At talks in Paris, Greece seeking to ease painful emergency taxes required by bailout

Finance officials from Greece have started talks in Paris with the country's rescue creditors, and are hoping to ease emergency taxes that have helped fuel recession.

Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis met with representatives of the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund Tuesday in the first bailout-related inspection held outside Greece.

The Paris talks are due to last three days and later include Greece's ministers of development, justice and administrative reform.

Greece is struggling to end a recession that started in 2008 and is hoping to ease taxes imposed as part of austerity measure demanded by bailout creditors from eurozone countries and the IMF.