Athens plans huge wave of privatisations

"The privatisation programme aims at attracting important international capital," Mr Stournaras told MPs on Saturday, sketching a vista of foreign corporations rushing in to snap up Greece's infrastructure and services.

The initial wave of the project would include 28 major privatisations, including state natural gas, water and betting companies, a number of key airports including that of Athens, the state railways and various marinas and other properties.

Some services would be taken over entirely by the private sector, he said, while in others the state would rent back the infrastructure from the buyers.

Mr Stournaras added that this was just the beginning, with a second bout of sell-offs, including that of the Public Power Corporation, planned for a later date.

In a second address today ahead of a confidence vote in the government he insisted that any deviation from the demands of the "troika" - the EU, European Central Bank and the IMF - would risk the country losing the next tranche of "aid" (loans) from the trio.

And he added that privatisation was only part of the package - it would also be essential to boost Greek "competitiveness," presumably by cutting wages even further.

He did, however, say that he would plead for a longer timetable on repaying the government's creditors.

Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras of the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) attacked the plan, saying it was "nothing more than a 'for sale' sign put on Greece."

Mr Tsipras sought to warn off those who might "grab state property on the cheap," saying they might lose all their money and face criminal proceedings under a future Syriza-led government.

He said the government ought to "fix its finances" by taxing the rich and "going after tax-evaders" and proposed a moratorium on debt repayments until the country returns to growth, a distant prospect as crushing austerity measures have crippled its economy.

benchacko@peoples-press.com