Financial Times
May 24, 2011
The leader of the main Greek opposition party rejected the government’s fiscal austerity measures and questioned its approach to privatising €50bn ($70bn) in state assets after meeting George Papandreou, prime minister, on Tuesday.
The move by Antonis Samaras not only appeared to dash hopes for a broad political consensus but could threaten negotiations with the European Union over a revamped rescue package, since bloc leaders have made cross-party agreement a key component of a new deal.
Mr Samaras said he was not completely opposed to privatisations, which have become a central element of EU plans to combat Athens’ mounting debt burden. But he said the speed at which they were happening was improper.
“The privatisation programme as it is envisaged by the government does not stimulate the economy but only aims at short term cash flow relief,” Notis Mitarachi, a leading opposition member, told the Financial Times.
Privatisations had to be combined with market liberalisation to be more effective, he said.
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