Greece has identified some 15,000 public-sector workers to be let go over two years as part of a tentative agreement sealed Monday with its international lenders to unlock the next payments from its €173 billion ($226 billion) bailout, The Wall Street Journal reported. After weeks of negotiations, representatives of the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank that the review had been completed and a "staff-level agreement" reached with the Greek government.

Creditors of the European arm of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers, which collapsed in September 2008, may be repaid in full, administrators said on Monday, Reuters reported. The settlement of rival claims over assets has freed up billion of dollars that can now be distributed to former clients of the bank's European arm, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) said in its ninth progress report to creditors.

A Russian depositor has filed suit for the seizure of all assets in Russia belonging to Laiki Bank of Cyprus, including its controlling stake in Russia’s Rosprombank, which may now hamper a Cypriot plan to sell off the shares, RT.com reported. Presnensky Court in Moscow has received a lawsuit from ‘Y. G. Borisov’ against Laiki Bank – which operates in Russia under the Cyprus Popular Bank brand – and Rosprombank, in which Cyprus owns a 50.4 percent stake. Borisov has demanded the repayment of money that was seized from his account with the Cypriot bank; the exact sum was not disclosed.

The Dutch government is taking a more relaxed approach toward austerity and delaying changes in jobless benefits in a bid to restore consumer confidence, revive the economy and make it easier to meet European Union budget targets next year, The Wall Street Journal reported. The move is the latest sign that the Netherlands, one of the more fiscally hawkish members in the euro zone and a steadfast ally of Germany, is softening its hard-line stance as it grapples with its own economic woes.

The Government expects Ireland’s borrowing requirement in the years to 2020 to be “significantly” reduced as a result of a new deal with the euro zone powers to postpone bailout loan repayments by an average of seven years, the Irish Times reported. Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said the arrangement should further reduce the interest the State pays to issue new debt to private investors as the Government plots its exit from the bailout at the end of this year. The deal was signed off yesterday in Dublin Castle at a meeting of EU ministers, which continues today.

Portugal could struggle to avoid a second international rescue even if it, alongside Ireland, is granted more time to repay its existing bailout loans by eurozone finance ministers meeting in Dublin on Friday, the Financial Times reported. Portugal, which is tussling to meet its deficit reduction targets during a deep recession, would have to raise a lot more in the two years after its planned exit from the bailout programme in 2014 than it did in pre-crisis times, according to a document seen by the Financial Times.

Belgium-based Alfacam , the provider of Europe's largest fleet of outside broadcast vans, said it may have to file for bankruptcy if a final bid for protection under Belgian law fails, Reuters reported. The company, which also provides broadcast services and TV studios, was granted creditor protection in October and has been seeking investors since then. It released the statement after talks with creditors and investors failed. "No agreement has been found about a solution between all the parties involved in this negotiation," it said.

Half of all lending to small and medium business is in arrears, according to the Central Bank. Fiona Muldoon, the director of credit institution supervision at the bank told a conference in Tralee yesterday that of the €50 billion lent to the sector by the domestic banks, some €25 billion was impaired and that the rate at which banks are facing up to the problem is unacceptable five years into the banking crisis, the Irish Times reported.

House prices in large parts of the euro zone fell in the fourth quarter of 2012 adding to the euro zone's economic woes, by both reducing household wealth and future consumption, particularly in austerity-ravaged economies, The Wall Street Journal reported. The decline in prices can also lead to problems for the bloc's banks if the value of homes falls below the value of mortgage loans they are secured against.

Under fire for its banking secrecy, Austria hit back at Britain and the United States on Thursday, urging them to crack down on money laundering and tax havens in their own backyards, as EU ministers prepared to debate the issue in Dublin, Reuters reported. Friction emerged before the Dublin meeting as France's budget minister warned Austria it could be blacklisted if it refused to share information on EU citizens' bank accounts, a threat Vienna dismissed as an "improper diversionary tactic".