Greece misses 2013 target for assets sell-off
GREECE’S court of auditors yesterday unexpectedly blocked the sale of 28 state assets to two Athens-based companies, the privatisation agency said yesterday, meaning that the country will miss its €1.3bn (£1.1bn) target for selloffs in 2013.
Selling state assets is a key condition of Greece’s €240bn rescue package. But the debt-laden nation has so far faced a number of setbacks and has already lowered its 2013 privatisation proceeds target twice, mainly because it did not receive any binding bids for natural gas firm DEPA. An official from the HRADF privatisation agency, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the court of auditors had raised a series of “technical issues” on the sale of the 28 state assets but added the matter was expected to be resolved soon.
HRADF said it would appeal against the decision to block the deal, which Athens had expected to raise €261m.