Timeline: Greece's debt crisis

(Reuters) - Here is a timeline of economic events since Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou first sealed a bailout deal in 2010.

May 2, 2010 - Papandreou says has sealed a deal with the EU and IMF, opening the door for a bailout in return for extra budget cuts of 30 billion euros ($43 billion) over three years.

-- Three-year package amounts to 110 billion euros and represents first rescue of a euro zone member.

May 4/5 - Public sector workers stage 48-hour nationwide strike. Three people are killed when a bank is set on fire.

May 6 - Greek parliament approves austerity bill.

May 9 - IMF unanimously approves its part of rescue loans, with 5.5 billion euros being provided immediately.

May 10 - Global policymakers install emergency safety net worth about $1 trillion to bolster international financial markets and prevent Greek crisis from damaging the euro. The net consists of 440 billion euros in guarantees from euro zone states, plus 60 billion euros in European debt instruments. EU finance ministers say IMF will contribute a further 250 billion euros.

May 18 - Greece receives 14.5 billion euro ($18.7 billion) loan from EU and can repay immediate debt.

July 7 - Greek parliament passes pension reform, key requirement of the EU/IMF deal, which includes raising women's retirement age from 60 to match men at 65.

August 5 - EU and IMF inspectors give Greece green light for fresh 9 billion euro tranche from bailout.

2011:

May 11 - EU and IMF inspectors arrive in Athens to press Greece to shore up finances and to determine if country will get fifth aid tranche of 12 billion euros.

May 23 - Greece unveils series of privatizations, part of its goal to raise 50 billion euros by 2015 to pay down debt.

June 8 - Greece agrees to 6.48 billion euros of extra austerity measures for 2011 and savings up to 2015 to cut deficits and to keep receiving aid.

June 13 - Greece gets the lowest credit rating in the world after S&P downgrades it by three notches, to CCC from B.

June 17 - Papandreou reshuffles cabinet, appoints Evangelos Venizelos, Papandreou's main party rival, as new finance minister. The new cabinet wins confidence vote on June 22.

June 29 - Papandreou wins parliamentary majority in favor of five-year austerity plan by 155 votes to 138, clearing major hurdle to winning access to new international funding.

July 8 - IMF approves disbursement of about 3.2 billion euros to help Greece pay debts due this month. This tranche brings IMF disbursements to about 17.4 billion euros.

July 21 - Euro zone leaders agree on second rescue package with extra 109 billion euros ($157 billion) of government money, plus contribution by private sector bondholders estimated to total as much as 50 billion euros by mid-2014.

September 21 - Greece adopts more austerity measures, including cutting high pensions by 20 percent.

September 27 - Greece passes an unpopular property tax to persuade IMF and EU it deserves the next 8-billion-euro tranche it needs to pay October salaries and avoid bankruptcy.

September 29 - The "troika" team of inspectors begin talks on a plan demanded by lenders to deepen budget cuts and raise taxes.

October 2 - Government draft budget figures say Greece will miss a deficit target set just months ago in a massive bailout package. The 2012 draft budget is approved by cabinet and predicts a deficit of 8.5 percent of GDP for 2011, well short of the 7.6 percent target.

-- The cabinet approves a measure creating a "labor reserve" allowing 30,000 state workers to be placed on 60 percent pay and be dismissed after a year.

October 5 - Public sector workers and state utilities employees go on strike for 24-hours against anti-austerity measures in action called by main labor unions ADEDY and GSEE.

October 21 - Greece approves a painful set of austerity measures, defying violent protests in Athens and a general strike which has shut down much of the country, bringing more than 100,000 people to the streets over the last two days. At least 74 people are injured and one man dies of a heart attack on the fringes of the protest.

October 23 - Any solution for further reducing Greece's debt burden must be voluntary, a Greek government official says following a meeting of EU leaders to try to find a solution to the debt crisis.

October 27 - Euro zone leaders strike a deal with private banks and insurers for them to accept a 50 percent loss on their Greek government bonds under a plan to lower Greece's debt burden

Oct 31 - Papandreou calls a popular vote on its latest bailout without consulting with European leaders.

November 2 - Papandreou faces a grilling from the leaders of Germany and France after winning cabinet backing to hold a referendum on a 130 billion-euro ($178 billion) bailout package.