The European Commission indicated on Saturday it would take a patient approach to Italy's faltering privatisation programme, with a senior official saying the country should be pragmatic and should not sell state assets at discounted prices. "The commission encourages the Italian government to move on with privatisations but you have to do it intelligently," Commission Deputy President Jyrki Katainen told Reuters on the sidelines of the European House Ambrosetti economic conference.
Italy has an ambitious target to raise 8 billion euros from privatisations this year but recently postponed the sale of the national railway company, which could have brought nearly half of the planned revenues into its coffers. According to Italian media, the European Commission could press the country to find other assets to put on the block to cut its public debt, which at 132.7 percent of gross domestic product is the second-highest in the euro zone. "If you are selling a big governmental asset first of all you have to put the company in good condition to get a better price and then market conditions must be favourable because it doesn't make sense to sell something on discount," Katainen said.