May 20, 2011
Greece must speed up its 50 billion- euro ($71 billion) plan to sell state assets and develop real estate and attract investments to get its economy back on the right track, Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said.
“To be able to start up the Greek economy’s big engine so it produces what we all want -- jobs, investment and wealth for Greeks -- we must proceed faster and more decisively,” Papaconstantinou told lawmakers in Athens today in comments broadcast live on state-run Vouli TV. “The state property and real-estate development and state-asset sales plans move in this direction.”
Greece is aiming to raise the 50 billion euros by 2015 to help reduce its debt, which is expected to peak at 166 percent of gross domestic product next year, according to European Commission estimates released on May 13.
“The time has come to speed up more,” Papaconstantinou said. The sale of stakes in listed companies must be the priority, followed by the formation of management bodies for a “faster income inflow from real-estate holdings.”
The government announced this week it hired banks to advise on the plans. It said on April 15 it will sell a stake in Hellenic Telecommunications Organization SA (HTO), reduce its holding in Public Power Corp. SA to 34 percent from 51 percent and sell its stake in Opap SA (OPAP), Europe’s biggest listed gambling company.
More
No comments:
Post a Comment