(VOVworld)- Greece’s lawmakers approved Friday the first bill containing tough austerity measures and economic overhauls agreed under its new bailout program.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras dropped his ardent opposition to further austerity in July and agreed to a tough third bailout deal. Photo: Alexandros Michailidis/Depo Ph/Zuma Press

After a week-long debate, the bill, which includes stricter pension rules, tax hikes and tougher fines for tax evasion, was passed by the majority of Greece’s 300 lawmakers. Under the deal Greece struck with its international creditors, which foresees up to €86 billion ($97.6 billion) in fresh loans, the omnibus bill—so-called because it wraps a number of proposed reforms into one bill—will pave the way for the disbursement of the next €2 billion in bailout funds. Despite the harsh austerity measures included in this set of proposed measures, the bill was supported by the country’s coalition government.