Greek Privatization Program Lags, Questioned

ATHENS (AFP) - The approach of a new budget year in crisis-hit Greece has rekindled talk of more spending cuts, along with a renewed EU-IMF creditor push for a breakthrough in the country's clogged-up privatization program But after three years of effort, with paltry results, worries are growing on the wisdom of state asset sales made on the quick and on whether they will ultimately benefit Greeks themselves. Unions have long warned that the planned offloading of stakes in utility and transport companies will impose higher water and gas prices to a population already struggling through a six-year recession. Wages have fallen by over 22 percent since 2010 according to state statistics, and unemployment has soared to over 27 percent of the active workforce. Right now, the agency tasked with the privatizations, the problem-prone Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, is pushing a laundry list of Greek state holdings.

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