Just when it seemed like there was no agreement in sight, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos announced that the government had “successfully concluded talks with the EU, the ECB and the IMF” – the troika.

Greece needs the €130 billion bailout by 20 March to redeem €14.5 billion worth of bonds coming due. But the battered people of Greece have been forced into taking more hits. The measures are necessary, but they are beyond austere. The cuts are deep and they are painful.

The cuts demanded by the troika were approved – a 22% cut in the minimum wage; the firing of 15,000 civil servants and an end to dozens of job guarantee provisions.

But Greek party leaders had almost backed out of striking a deal over new pension cuts worth an estimated €300 million. The news drove Greece’s borrowing costs even higher, and pushed the country ever closer to default.

The agreement has left the door open for a final aye or nay when European leaders meet in the next few weeks. It is evident, from the behaviour of all leaders during the last summit, that everyone is looking to find a brokered solution to reassure the markets that Greece will be able to pay its debts.

The deal will get the go-ahead, there is no doubt. But matters have escalated. Germany and France convened a joint Cabinet meeting and demanded that Greece sets up a separate government fund to start actually paying for its debt and to show what it is paying and to who.

The eurozone is united in pushing through this bailout, but one can see that many leaders are getting frustrated. Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi got quite aerated at the last EU summit when he drove home his point that austerity alone was not going to solve Europe’s problems. His thoughts were echoed by other leaders and it does look like he is on the right track in saying that without economic growth, the problem will not be solved. Vicious spending cuts have failed to drastically improve Greece’s finances and have instead fuelled galloping unemployment and a deep recession.

Greece has been kept solvent since May 2010 by payments from a €110 billion international rescue loan package – a package which we are all paying for. It was again on the eve of a summit when it became clear that the money would not be enough, and this second bailout was decided upon.

Greece is in a sorry mess: The economy is set to contract for a fifth consecutive year, the deficit stands at 10%, unemployment is soaring and has hit 21% sending the number of jobless to over one million.

At some point there needs to be a radical change of direction. Greece’s people are in their fifth year of misery, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to end anytime soon. Is it Greece’s fault? Yes, but it is not necessarily the people’s fault. We are rapidly headed towards a two-speed Europe, the movers and the sliders. Right now, we are in the former category. And that is where we need to stay. The government calls it a “minor miracle”. The Opposition says we are doing Ok despite a clueless leadership. Whichever the case may be, we are doing something right, and we need to keep doing it and improving on it. It truly is a race, and we need to keep pace with the leading pack.