Sunday, June 19, 2011

Venizelos aims to push through Greek reform

Financial Times
June 19, 2011

Evangelos Venizelos, Greece’s new finance minister, says his strategy for avoiding a sovereign debt default will focus on tax reform and privatisation, two policy areas where the nation’s foreign creditors have criticised the government’s lack of progress.

“It’s a pity that Greece, with all its resources, finds itself in this situation which, given our history and our identity, is miserable and humiliating. We must and will get out of this,” Mr Venizelos said.

Privatisation of inefficient state-controlled companies and reform of Greece’s Byzantine tax system were two nuts that George Papaconstantinou, the mild-mannered economist who was dismissed as finance minister last Friday after only 20 months in the job, found all but impossible to crack.

Undeterred, Mr Venizelos told Greek television that he would take personal responsibility for the privatisation programme, which is supposed to raise €50bn by the end of 2015.

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