By Lefteris Papadimas
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's government on Friday pushed ahead with plans for a near-balanced budget next year, ignoring objections from its EU/IMF lenders who say Athens is set to miss its deficit forecast.
Athens and its foreign lenders have been at loggerheads over the projected deficit for next year, with the lenders arguing Greece will miss the 0.2 percent target because of a new payback plan for austerity-hit Greeks who owe money to the state.
The Greek government, however, stuck to the forecast in its updated 2015 budget plan that was submitted to parliament without the approval of the lenders, marking its first near-balanced budget in over three decades.
"We are fighting for it," Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis told reporters. "There is some convergence but they are pushing us on the budget."
Athens - which says it has no more room for punishing Greeks with austerity - has struck an increasingly defiant tone as it haggles with the EU/IMF inspectors on what is expected to be the final review under its 240 billion euro bailout.
The government is in talks with EU/IMF lenders to exit its bailout package at the end of the year, more than a year ahead of its scheduled end in early 2016. It wants to wrap up the current bailout review by Dec. 8 but says talks are "tough".
After nearly five years on EU/IMF aid that has come at the price of painful austerity measures, Greece has made progress in getting its finances back on track and its economy has begun to grow again. The budget confirmed the economy would grow 0.6 percent this year and 2.9 percent in 2015.
It also predicted the budget deficit for this year would be larger than previously estimated, standing at 1.3 percent from 0.8 percent forecast in the October draft budget.
Athens also lowered its target for a primary surplus - which excludes interest payments - this year to 1.8 percent from 2 percent previously and slightly raised the target for next year to 3 percent from 2.9 percent.
Athens, which has been emboldened by two successful forays into debt markets this year after a four-year hiatus, also confirmed plans to continue tapping the bond markets.
Investors, however, have punished Greek bonds in recent weeks over fears Greece is on track for a new political crisis when lawmakers elect a new president in spring next year, which could trigger snap polls.
For a factbox on the 2015 budget click:
(Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos and Renee Maltezou, writing by Deepa Babington; Editing by Toby Chopra)