Greece warns of 'technical delay' to early bailout exit plan

By Lefteris Papadimas

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece acknowledged a risk of delay on Thursday to its planned exit from an EU/IMF bailout by the end of the year, rattling Greek stock and bond markets a day after talks on a bailout review failed to clinch a deal.

The news broke as thousands of Greeks marched to parliament to demand an end to austerity and mark a 24-hour strike that grounded hundreds of flights, paralysed sea and train transport and shut public offices.

"We want the government out, it has failed," said 60-year-old retired teacher Loula Margariti, one of the marchers.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has staked his political survival on ending the bailout early. But Greece is running short of time to reach a deal on its final review by a Dec. 8 deadline after talks in Paris with the European Union and International Monetary Fund lenders ended this week without results.

"The aim is for the last tranche to be disbursed by December 31. If for technical reasons some procedures cannot be completed there could be an extension, but not a new bailout," Deputy Prime Minister Evangelos Venizelos said after meeting Samaras.

Asked about the extension, Venizelos said it could be for "weeks or a few days". Finance Minister Gikas Hardouvelis also confirmed there could be a delay of a "short period" to the bailout. Neither specified what the technical reasons were.

Samaras is hoping that ditching the unpopular bailout programme will help him win over opposition lawmakers and scrape his government through a presidential vote in February, which could otherwise trigger early elections.

Greek stocks fell 2.6 percent in afternoon trade and Greek 10-year bond yields rose 12 basis points to 8.48 percent.

(Writing by Deepa Babington; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)