Less haste, more freed: Experience suggests Greece’s privatisation plan is too fast

With a target of €50 billion ($72 billion) by 2015, Greece’s privatisation plan aims to raise more cash as a share of GDP than any OECD government has managed before.
 If the goal for listed companies is met, the market capitalisation of the Athens stock exchange would double. The economic benefits of privatisation are widely accepted: a 2003 OECD study found “overwhelming support” for the idea that “privatisation brings about a significant increase in the profitability, real output and efficiency of privatised companies.” But is Greece’s timetable too rapid?



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Economist