Tsiparas will ask law makers to endorse his plans

Athens

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will on Friday ask lawmakers to endorse his new plans to save the country from financial collapse, as eurozone officials pore over the latest bailout package ahead of crunch weekend talks. 

The last-ditch package, submitted two hours before a midnight Thursday deadline, offers a pensions overhaul and tax hikes in return for debt relief and a rescue loan from the eurozone similar to a proposal put forward by Greece's international paymasters before talks broke down last month.

But there was no immediate word whether Greece's paymasters would accept the new plan, which agrees to their demands to raise the age of retirement, reform taxes and speed up privatisation, but limits changes in other thorny issues, including tax breaks for Greece's islands and cuts to military spending. 

"The Greek proposal... includes funding of the country's financing needs... for three years, debt adjustment and a front-loaded investment package of 35 billion euros ($38 billion)," a Greek government source said.

Eurozone officials will now study the details of the plan before a make-or-break summit of all 28 European Union leaders on Sunday that could determine Greece's future in the single currency and even the bloc as a whole.

The summit comes a week after Greeks overwhelmingly voted to reject a fresh bailout package offered by the country's creditor institutions  the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund  in return for new tax rises and spending cuts.

The crescendo of Greece's long-running debt crisis forced the country's banks to close last month, bringing the economy to a standstill, while a ban on transferring money out of the country has isolated Greece from foreign suppliers of everything from food to medicine.

The Greek parliament will be asked on Friday to authorise Tsipras and other senior officials to hold new talks on the basis of this latest bailout offer, state news agency  said. While the premier has hailed the referendum as giving him a public mandate to lead new talks, he could face a challenge from hardliners in his Syriza party who reject any austerity no matter the cost.