ATHENS, Greece – Greece’s three-party coalition government will try to get the economy out of its deep recession by encouraging private investment and making privatizations its “highest priority,” finance minister Yannis Stournaras said Saturday.

“The privatization program aims at attracting important international capital that will be invested mainly in property development and infrastructure,” Stournaras told parliament on the second day of the debate on the new government’s policy platform.

He said the government plans to give priority to 28 privatizations, including the state natural gas, water and betting companies, the development of the former Athens airport, other airports, yacht marinas, the state railways and the sale and leaseback of 28 state properties. The privatization of Public Power Corp. will come at a later stage, Stournaras said.

Earlier, the leader of Greece’s main opposition party accused the country’s coalition government of wanting to sell Greece’s resources and public companies on the cheap.

“The prime minister’s policy statement was nothing more than a ‘for sale sign’ put on Greece,” Alexis Tsipras, head of the Coalition of the Radical Left party, known as Syriza, told Parliament.

He proposed a moratorium on the payment of Greece’s debt until the country, mired in a recession, returns to growth.

 


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