Italy to perform partial privatization in 2015

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Italy has expressed its intent to partially privatize the postal service, air traffic control company and national railway, as the economy faces a third consecutive year of contraction.

The government hopes to raise some 10 billion euros (USD 12.5 billion) with the likely sell-off of 40 percent of Poste Italiane, 49 percent of the air traffic control company, ENAV, and nearly 40 percent of State Railways (FS) by 2015, Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said on Wednesday.

The announcement follows similar news of a partial sell-off of power giant, Enel, as Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s government promises to curb the towering debt pile of the eurozone’s fifth-largest economy.

In 2013, then Prime Minister Enrico Letta announced privatization plans to raise up to 12 billion euros (USD 15.5 billion) to pay off government debt, but failed in the attempt.

The plan included selling some of Italy’s historic treasures to keep the country’s budget deficit below the EU-mandated limit of 3.0 percent of gross domestic product (GPD).

In November, the Italian National Statistical Institute (Istat) announced that the country’s economy was still beset with recession in the third quarter of 2014.

Italy started to experience recession after its economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2011 and by 0.7 percent in the year’s fourth quarter.

The worsening debt crisis across the European Union has compelled many governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries.