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by Our Foreign Desk
GREECE’S Syriza government has announced that it has contracted out the running of 14 regional airports to a German company.
The decision, published in the government gazette overnight on Monday, would hand over the airports to Fraport AG, which runs Frankfurt Airport among others across the world — including several on popular tourist island destinations.
The €1.23 billion (£870 million) sell-off is the first privatisation decision taken by the government of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who was elected in January on an anti-austerity manifesto.
The government had initially vowed to cancel the country’s privatisation programme, but Tsipras has been forced to renege on his pre-election promises in return for a new €86bn (£61bn) bailout from international creditors.
The prime minister is widely expected to call a confidence vote in his government this week, after dozens of Syriza MPs voted against the bailout deal in parliament last Friday.
In a separate move, the government slightly relaxed its restrictions on banking transactions, allowing small amounts to be sent abroad for the first time in about two months.
The finance ministry’s amendments, also published in the government gazette, include allowing Greeks to send up to €500 (£350) abroad per person per month, and allowing up to €8,000 (£5,600) per quarter to be sent to students studying abroad to cover accommodation costs.
Greeks can now also open new bank accounts that will have no withdrawal rights, in order to repay loans, social security contributions or tax debts.
