Greek police clashed in front of parliament with stone-throwing youths protesting against austerity measures today but lawmakers still passed the bill in an emergency vote.
Police fired teargas to disperse dozens of demonstrators who hurled stones, burnt garbage containers and scuffled with other protestors.
Strikes also shut schools and brought public transport in Athens to a halt.
Police pushed back protesters from the parliament's steps, just before lawmakers passed much of a €4.8 billion package including cuts on public servants' bonuses and a 2 percentage hike of VAT.
About 12,000 demonstrators took to the streets according to police estimates, most of them peacefully.
Shouting "never, never, never," they protested the austerity measures meant to tackle Greece's huge fiscal deficit and €300 billion debt pile.
The only buses on the streets of Athens today belonged to the riot police. At the airport more than 60 flights were cancelled as unions called impromptu work stoppages.
An opinion poll showed strong opposition to some measures such as higher VAT and a freeze on public pensions but support for moves to raise tax on alcohol, cigarettes and luxury goods.
Ratings agencies and EU policymakers have said delivery will be key in determining whether Greece can re-establish its credibility on the world stage and as a borrower.
The latest protests took place as Greek prime minister George Papandreou travelled to Germany for a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel in the hope of persuading her to back more concrete EU support measures for Greece.
The cutbacks and tax hikes were passed easily in parliament where the government holds a comfortable majority, but some expressed discontent even among the ruling PASOK party, feeling uncomfortable after the socialist government was elected in October on a tax-and-spend program.
The main public sector union ADEDY brought forward a planned national strike to March 11 from March 16 and its sister private sector union GSEE said it would join them. The two unions represent half Greece's 5-million workforce.
Reuters