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Greek deputy finance minister Valavani hospitalised with pneumonia symptoms


    ATHENS (Reuters) - Greek Deputy Finance Minister Nadia Valavani was admitted to an Athens hospital on Sunday suffering symptoms of pneumonia brought on by exhaustion, her spokesman said on Monday.

    Valavani, 61, is one of two deputy finance ministers who report to Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis. The three are trying to put together a package of reforms to convince euro zone partners to release desperately needed funds.

    Valavani was working on draft legislation to give more time to Greeks to hand over billions of euros in tax and social security contribution arrears.

    The legislation, part of the list of reforms Athens has sent to the Eurogroup, aims to provide an incentive scheme that would front-load the collection of a large sum of arrears and help state coffers survive a cash crunch.

    (Reporting by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Larry King)