In the end it was a bit of a damp squib: protesters, put off by the rain and perhaps fatigue, did not come in their thousands to oppose the emergency legislation that is likely to change the face of Greece. But trade union leaders said it mattered not.

The €130bn (£110bn) bailout deal secured in the early hours of Tuesday had not erased the anger or despair of Greeks. "Two years ago we were demonstrating about [wage and pension] cuts but now they want to take away everything," said Ilias Iliopoulos at the civil servants' union Adedy. "People are literally hungry and the number of homeless is growing every day … soon they won't take anymore. There'll be a popular revolt."

Barely a day after Athens agreed to the excoriating EU/European Central Bank/IMF terms to be saved from bankruptcy for a second time, popular fury at the terms of the rescue shows no signs of ebbing.

Demonstrators at an Athens rally on Wednesday night claimed the argument, articulated by the Greek finance minister Evangelos Venizelos, that the debt-choked country has escaped a "nightmare" meant little when so many had already been impoverished. "It would be bad but it's already bad, and it's going to get a lot worse," said Evangelia Fasilakaki, an umbrella in her hands as she evoked the deepening mood of resignation and defeat. "They are even closing down cancer wards here."

But opposition has not dampened the resolve of the technocrat prime minister Lucas Papademos to do what he was appointed to do: pass the reforms that will release the funds to keep bankruptcy at bay.

Despite widely expressed doubts over the efficacy of the latest aid package and attendant bond swap that will write off €100bn from the country's debt pile, Papademos insisted the deal would "create the conditions for growth and the recovery of the [recession-hit] Greek economy."

Although the bailout has generated widespread relief, politicians and analysts voiced consternation over a "confidential" IMF assessment of the Greek economy showing its debt-to-GDP ratio at 160% in 2020, the same level as today, and far above the rescue programme's target of 120.5%. Former finance minister Stefanos Manos said Greek debt would only become sustainable when cut to 90% of national outlay.

Reforms that are expected to overhaul the workings of Greece economically, politically and judicially will be fast-tracked through parliament in a record nine days as the government tries to convince creditors the country is willing to change. The emergency measures include a further €3.2bn in spending and income cuts.

It is hoped that with default no longer on the cards, Greeks will end a capital flight that has seen an estimated €65bn in deposits removed from banks since the crisis erupted in December 2009.

Venizelos said €16bn had been whisked abroad – mostly to banks in Britain – but the rest had remained in Greece, kept under the proverbial mattress of a nation that no longer believed in its own financial system.