In 2010 Greece received a $175 billion bailout package from the EU and the International Monetary Fund to help the nation avoid default, That did little to ease its national debt, which the European Commission predicted in mid-2011 would rise to a staggering 166.1 percent of GDP. Neither did it forestall the resignation of Prime Minister George Papandreou. He quit in November unable to quell more than a year of protests, riots, and strikes over austerity measures he imposed in response to demands from international lenders.