Greece’s prime minister faces serious internal opposition to the forced sale of state assets. Some months ago the German newspaper Bild suggested that in return for the EU bailout, Greece should sell off the Acropolis and some islands, including Corfu (where I live). At the time, this was regarded as so much tabloid guff, but more recently the EU-IMF-ECB troika has been pushing the sale of Greek assets so far that it has become less of a joke and more of a serious bargaining point. Privatisation of state companies and sale of assets, including land, are inevitable if Greece is to raise the €50 billion which the troika insists is necessary to reduce national debt by 2015. The government was due to publish its schedule of sales on April 15th but has deferred any detailed announcement until after Easter.
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