ATHENS, Greece, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said Tuesday the government would speed its privatization plan and reduce the size of the public sector.
Kathimerini reported Venizelos said in a televised address that the state assets in Public Gas Corp. and Hellenic Petroleum would be transferred to a privatization fund starting Wednesday.
Other assets to be transferred to the privatization fund include OPAP, the state's betting pools monopoly, and its share in Athens International Airport.
Venizelos also said wage cuts and dismissals would be made in the public sector, the Athens News Agency reported.
Speaking to Cabinet ministers earlier Tuesday, Venizelos said officials of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, known collectively as the troika, had expressed "annoyance and reservations about our willingness to push through with reforms because we have been dragging our feet."
Greece avoided default with the help of a $156 billion bailout from the troika in May in exchange for measures to cut its deficit and other economic reforms.
Venizelos said the troika had "accepted the shortfall in revenue but not the delays in reforms."
His comments came after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said at a German Parliament meeting Tuesday Greece would not receive its latest $11.2 billion bailout installment unless the troika issues a positive report on its efforts at reform and fiscal adjustment.
Greece's solvency depends on the latest bailout payment, the Athens newspaper Kathimerini reported.
