Greece prepares to sell off state assets to get loans By the CNN Wire Staff

Greeks angry over job cuts

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Stocks fall in Europe as investors worry the Greek debt crisis could spread
• Airports, highways, banks and more are for sale as Greece tries to raise billions of euros
• Euro zone ministers say new loans are contingent on Greece raising money through privatization
• Talks on a second bailout package follow three weeks of street protests and political upheaval

Athens, Greece (CNN) -- Greece is preparing to sell off billions of dollars worth of state assets including airports, highways, state-owned companies as well as banks, real estate and gaming licenses to meet international lenders' demands that it raise funds.

European finance ministers said Sunday that they were on track to give Greece a second huge bailout to keep the government afloat, but reiterated that Athens had to take tough measures to get it.

Greece has to raise 50 billion euros ($71 billion) through privatization by 2015, Eurogroup members said.

It also has to push through tough budget-cutting measures, they said, despite widespread protests in the country that forced a government reshuffle last week.

Prime Minister George Papandreou faces a vote of confidence in his new ministers this week as his party clings on to a wafer-thin majority in parliament.

Meanwhile, the country's economic crisis raises concerns for Europe's currency, the euro. A default on its debts by Greece, or other struggling nations such as Portugal or Ireland, could adversely affect the world economy.

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RELATED TOPICS

• Greece
• International Monetary Fund
• European Union

European stocks fell in afternoon trading Monday as investors worried the Greek debt crisis could spread to other countries.

European finance ministers Sunday made an understated reference to the weeks of protests on the streets of Athens and the political upheaval that ensued.

"Ministers recognized the considerable progress achieved by the Greek authorities over the last year (and) are also conscious of the serious challenges that Greek citizens are facing in these difficult times," said members of the group, which consists of officials from countries in the Euro economic zone.

European ministers aim to keep Greece solvent -- and prevent its economic crisis from worsening and spreading through Europe and beyond.

The ministers' statement came a day after Papandreou called for lawmakers to back his latest round of budget-cutting measures, telling them, "The government must stop spending more than it takes in."

The harsh reforms designed to help reduce Greece's enormous budget deficit have so far led to tax hikes and public-sector job losses alongside already record-high unemployment.

There are fears that efforts to restructure Greece's debt could send shock waves through Europe's banking sector and spark investor panic similar to that in the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers, the U.S.-based global investment bank.

Papandreou faces opposition from his party over the austerity measures needed to secure an additional bailout package.

The Greek government's popularity has plunged recently, and anti-government protests turned violent Wednesday, as demonstrators threw gasoline bombs at the Finance Ministry and police fired tear gas at protesters, police said.

On June 9, the Cabinet approved a tough five-year plan for 2011-15 and introduced a bill in Parliament to put austerity measures into effect.

The latest measures include further cuts in public spending and more tax increases.

The government proposes reducing the public-sector workforce by 150,000; workers will also face changes in working hours, practices and wages. The plan also sets out changes to social benefits, including pensions and unemployment aid.

According to the Finance Ministry, these measures will help achieve 28.3 billion euros ($40.5 billion) in cuts from 2012 to 2015, and shrink Greece's public deficit to less than 3% of gross domestic product, in accordance with the EU target.

The government has said the passage of these additional measures is essential to Greece's securing the fifth portion of the first 110 billion euro ($158 billion) bailout package that Greece signed with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund last year to prevent the country from defaulting on its debts.

CNN's Diana Magnay and journalist Elinda Labropoulou contributed to this report.