June 6, 2011
Greece took the first step to raise money from the sale of government assets Monday, as a top official at the European Central Bank argued that the country is not insolvent and should not be excused from paying its debts.
Greece exercised an agreement to sell a 10 percent stake in the state-owned telecommunications company, known as OTE, to Deutsche Telekom for about €400 million, or $585 million. The German company said it would honor the agreement.
While that sum will make only a small dent in Greece’s total debt of €330 billion, Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, a member of the executive board of the European Central Bank, said the country has marketable assets worth €300 billion and is not bankrupt.
“Greece should be considered solvent and should be asked to service its debts,” Mr. Bini Smaghi said Monday, signaling that the E.C.B. remains firmly opposed to any plan to allow Greece to stretch out its debt payments or oblige investors to accept less than full repayment, a so-called haircut.
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