On the third day of talks between government ministers and visting troika inspectors, there are reports that the two sides are at odds over how to meet a promise to lay off state workers.

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos was due to meet troika officials around midday, the finance ministry said.

To secure the next tranche of bailout loans, the government has promised to impose tax hikes, slash public sector wages by an average of 20 percent and reduce the number of state workers by a fifth by 2015.

But the state constitution guarantees jobs for life to all state employees, making the promise to cut payroll numbers a legal and political minefield.

The government has promised to start layoffs by putting 30,000 state workers into a labour reserve force by the end of this year. Workers in the reserve would be paid 60 percent of their salaries for a year and then be dismissed if they cannot find new jobs.

The Ta Nea daily newspaper said today that troika officials were "disappointed" with progress in talks on the plan so far, expressing concern that laid-off state employees could go to court and win their jobs back.

The government has yet to give details about how it would decide which workers would be shunted into the reserve. Ta Nea said the troika was worried that only older workers already near pension age would go into the reserve, effectively turning it into an early retirement plan that would save little money.

The government is expected to reach a decision on the reserve plan at a cabinet meeting at 6pm on Sunday, when it will also discuss the budget for next year, which will be tabled in parliament on Monday.