Greece's leftist government urged disgruntled lawmakers on Wednesday to back reforms required for talks on a rescue deal to start, as Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras faced his second major test in parliament in a week.

A first set of reforms that focused largely on tax hikes and budget discipline triggered a rebellion in his party last week and passed only thanks to votes from pro-EU opposition parties.

The bill that lawmakers were scheduled to vote on late on Wednesday covers rules for dealing with failed banks and speeding up the justice system - two more conditions set by the eurozone and IMF to open negotiations on an 86 billion euro ($94 billion) rescue loan.