As economy rebounds, Greece will wrap up bank sales this year, finance minister says

Greece will this year complete the sale of its outstanding stakes in five banks bailed out during last decade's debt crisis and raise record revenues from state asset sales, its finance minister told Reuters.

The news is a further sign of Greece's economic rebound following the 2010-18 crisis in which the economy shrank by a quarter, unemployment soared, street protests raged and the country nearly fell out of the eurozone.

After years of relative stability, investors have come back. The state recently sold its stake in three major banks, raising more than 2 billion euros. The latest sale, of a 27% stake in Piraeus Bank, was oversubscribed eight times.

"We had very significant interest expressed by many investors and that's why we are aiming at finishing this process by the end of this year," Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said in an interview.

Under...