Greek public debt reached 168.8 pct of the country’s GDP in the first quarter of 2015, remaining the highest among EU member-states, Eurostat said on Wednesday.

Parliament passed a bill containing the second package of prior actions demanded by Greece’s creditors, early on Thursday morning, with 230 votes for and 63 against.

"What matters at this time is for normality to return to the system, but also to ensure that moves affecting our weakest citizens will be avoided," Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Wednesday said in a meeting with the Hellenic Bank Association.