Updated

Greece's coalition government says the country no longer has too many public servants and is already close to reaching staff reduction targets demanded by bailout lenders two years before the deadline.

Administrative Reform Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the number of workers on the state payroll had been slashed from 913,000 at the end of 2009 to 681,392 on Nov. 30 this year, with annual spending on wage costs axed by just over one-third.

He made the remarks during debate in parliament for the 2014 budget to end with a midnight vote Saturday.

Greece is struggling to complete its latest round of negotiations with bailout lenders, with the pace of staff cuts among the unresolved issues.