Greece has vowed austerity as eurozone finance ministers meet in Luxembourg where they are expected to approve a 12bn-euro loan to the debt-stricken country.
Barely 48 hours after being handed the tough Greek portfolio, Evangelos Venizelos headed into two days of crunch talks with his 16 euro partners saying "we can achieve our target."
Eurozone finance ministers are to agree whether to pay out loans under last year's whopping 110-billion-euro (155 billion dollars) bailout of Greece, while also discussing a new rescue tipped almost as big, that governments hope to share out between taxpayers and the private sector.
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"It is a great opportunity for me to repeat the strong commitment of the Greek government and the strong will of the Greek people for the implementation of the programme," Venizelos said, referring to a four-year austerity package crucial to securing fresh aid.
"We can achieve our target, thanks to the efforts of our people, and thanks to the cooperation and the assistance of our partners," he said.
The former defence minister took on the country's crippling debt problems only Friday when Prime Minister George Papandreou revamped his government in the face of threats of government meltdown due to protests over the austerity plan.
As ministers from the 17 nations using the euro began talks at 7:00 pm (1700 GMT), Luxembourg premier Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the eurogroup, said he expected no decision on Greece before Monday.
"There will be no agreement today," said Juncker. "We have a meeting tonight, we have a meeting tomorrow, so probably we will not have a press conference tonight as the discussion will continue tomorrow morning."
The ministers aim to approve loans of over 8.7 billion euros ($12.5 billion), their share of a 12-billion-euro tranche of bailout funding which Athens needs to avoid default next month.
A further 3.3-billion-euro portion from the IMF should follow once the ministers outline a new deal on how to finance Greece through to the end of 2014 is agreed.
In talks running through Monday afternoon with the other 10 EU states, the real work will revolve around sharing the burden of a new rescue package between taxpayers and the private sector.
But fresh help is contingent on Greece sticking to a harsh debt reduction plan that includes privatisations and belt-tightening.
And Germany's finance minister Wolfgang Schauble made that more than clear on arriving for the talks.
"We will certainly work on ascertaining that conditions are fulfilled for the payment of the next tranche" of the May 2010 bailout, he said.
However "the heart of the matter is not happening here but in Athens", he warned.
The Greek government is battling to push through a controversial budget plan, including 28.4 billion euros ($40.6 billion) of fiscal belt-tightening, which has triggered wide unrest.
It must be adopted by the end of the month to convince creditor nations, the EU and the IMF to continue dishing out financial aid to the country.
In Athens, Papandreou on Sunday urged political parties to forge a "national accord" and back him in a confidence vote in order to overcome the economic crisis amid social unrest.
"I have asked for a renewal of the confidence in the government because the country finds itself at a crucial point," Papandreou said at the opening of debate on a parliamentary vote of confidence in the new Greek cabinet.
