EU exec yet to see new Greek austerity plan

BRUSSELS, March 3 (Reuters) - The European Commission declined comment on Wednesday on new austerity measures planned by Greece, saying it had not yet been officially informed of them.

Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said the European Union executive was likely to give a reaction in the afternoon.

Greece's cabinet approved a sweeping new austerity programme on Wednesday, the third in as many months, in a drive to rein in a bulging budget deficit and secure European financial support, a government source said.

"Measures which will yield 4.8 billion euros ($6.5 billion) have been decided," the source, who took part in the cabinet meeting, said. "Half will be from spending cuts and another 50 percent from tax increases."

The measures include an increase of value-added tax by 2 percentage points to 21 percent and trimming public sector salary bonuses by 30 percent, the source said. [nATH005244] (Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, editing by Dale Hudson)