Athens blockade
All 17 countries that use the euro must ratify the commitment made in July to expand the powers of the EFSF and boost its bailout guarantees from 440bn euros (£383bn) to 780bn euros.
So far, 10 have approved the measure.
As Europe's largest economy, Germany's commitment to the fund would rise from 123bn euros to 211bn.
That bigger fund is already being dismissed as inadequate in the light of the worsening Greek crisis and the threat of it spreading to other economies.
Inspectors from the "troika" of international creditors supporting Greece - the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) - returned to Athens on Thursday to decide if the government has done enough to warrant another 8bn euros (£6.9bn) of loans.
"The climate was positive and creative after the tough measures that were decided," Greece's finance ministry said in a statement.
Public workers blocked entrances to a number of ministries in Athens, protesting against the deep austerity measures the government has imposed as a condition of the bailout.
"Take your bailout and leave," shouted protesters outside the finance ministry, Reuters news agency reported. They said they wanted to prevent Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos from meeting the troika officials.
Taxi drivers, hospital workers and other public sector staff were also due to strike on Thursday, angered by the announcement of new austerity measures including pension cuts and a new property tax.
Without the new loans - laid out under the terms of a bailout agreed last year - Greece will soon run out of money.
New taxes have been approved and deeper spending cuts have been promised, but some decisions have been delayed and privatisation is running behind schedule says the BBC's Chris Morris in Athens.
Many people believe that austerity measures are pushing Greece's crippled economy deeper into recession and strangling any chance of growth.
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