“The government will have completed the sale of the percentages it maintains at the end of the year, while it will record revenue from privatisations, as the economy recovers,” the Minister of Finance told Reuters on Wednesday (20.3.2024) .In the previous months the government sold all its shares to three large banks, which it maintains through the Financial Stability Fund, drawing more than 2 billion euros, Costas Hatzidakis said, adding that it still retains an 18.4% percentage to the National Bank and 72% to the smaller Attica Bank, which will be available in the coming months. “Under the agreement we have with the lenders, we can continue the divestment process until the end of 2025. We see that we have no reason to delay,” said Mr Hatzidakis. “We had a very important interest in many investors and that is why we want to complete this process by the end of the year,” he added. Since 2019 when New Democracy came to power major multinational companies such as Pfizer, Google and JP Morgan began investing in the country. After its re-election to the country’s governance in 2023 and the recovery of the investment tier began investing in banks. “We are determined to continue, more or less, in the same way by proceeding with all the necessary structural reforms by conveying the message that this country is a friendly country for investment,” Hatzidakis stressed. Revenue 7.1 billion euros from denationalisations The minister added that the government expects 7.1 billion euros revenue from denationalizations implemented or completed in the last eight months, easily achieving the 5.7 billion euros revenue target in 2024. “It is unprecedented for Greece, not only the number of denationalizations, but also the revenue for the state.” Greece collected 790m euros from the 30% disposal of Athens International Airport last month and expects revenues of 4.6 billion euros from the concessions of Egnatia and Attica Road. The rate of economic growth rose to 2% last year, slightly below government forecast, compared to 0.4% on average in the eurozone. It is expected at 2.9% this year thanks to increased tourism revenues, investment support and strong domestic demand. “The Greek economy was, is and will be a positive surprise for Europe,” noted Mr. Hatzidakis. He added that he wants to attract more investment in the green energy, logistics and tourism sectors to fill the gap with the rest of the eurozone. Referring to the Golden Visa issue, the minister said that the threshold would be increased for foreign investors to 800,000 euros, from 500,000 euros, for large cities and popular islands, to 400,000 for other areas, while it would be set at 250,000 for conservationists. “Relational amendment will probably be tabled in parliament by the end of this week”. Regarding the increase in basic salary, he said he would increase over 800 euros without giving more details.
Hatzidakis: By the end of the year the investment in banks will be completed
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