Greek PM denies plans to sell off national treasures

Greeks had been horrified by suggestions from international creditors that public land and assets might be sold off to reduce the country's national debt
Tourist attractions such as the Acropolis could be sold to pay off Greece's massive national debt, it has been suggested. Photograph: Alamy

Prime minister George Papandreou has sought to reassure Greeks that his government will not engage in a huge sell-off of state-owned properties, days after international creditors suggested that large-scale privatisations could solve the country's debt crisis.

The socialist leader attempted to allay fears following public outrage over proposals that Greece sell off its beaches, ports, airports and tourist assets to rein in its debt.

Addressing a cabinet meeting, Papandreou tried to contain the furore, saying he had ordered his ministers to begin cataloguing state-owned assets with a view to protecting them. "Public land is not for sale," he said.

Monitors overseeing the terms of a €110bn bailout for Greece by eurozone nations and the IMF raised the spectre of state asset sales last week. Stopping short of saying that national monuments should be auctioned, international auditors shocked Greeks by suggesting the government launch €50bn privatisation drive of prime land.

Denying that Greece would have to sell off its cultural gems such as the Acropolis, Poul Thomsen, the chief monitor in charge of the IMF mission, nonetheless resorted to unusually stern language. "The mismanagement of public property is a major source of waste [in Greece]," he said.

Against a backdrop of rising popular anger over stringent austerity measures, the dispute has highlighted growing sensitivity over the reforms demanded in exchange for the loans by the EU and IMF. Amid street protests and strikes, Greeks feel, increasingly, that the debt crisis has lead to a loss of national sovereignty.

This week finance minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou also lashed out at the debt inspectors, saying they had overstepped the mark – but did not rule out privatisations. "The EU, ECB and IMF representatives have gone beyond their role. They have acted in a unilateral manner on questions which are solely the Greek government's responsibility," he told parliament.

With Greece's economic recovery essential to a wider solution of the eurzone debt crisis, the international creditors moved to dampen the row. "We recognize the difficult challenges facing the Greek economy and we have the deepest respect for the tremendous efforts being made by the Greek people," they said.

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