Greece's supreme court has approved a large private urban development project on the prime seaside site of the old Athens airport, which is a key element of the country's bailout program. The 620-hectare (1,500-acre) plot was sold under Greece's creditor-mandated privatization program to a consortium led by Greek Lamda Development, which is planning an 8-billion-euro ($9.4-billion) investment including a park, housing, shopping areas and hotels. Thursday's approval follows the 2016 privatization of Greece's largest port of Piraeus through the sale of a majority stake to China's Cosco group. Greece's left-wing government says it's committed to continuing cost-cutting reforms and privatization after the country's international bailout ends in August. It will present rescue creditors a development plan in April to be used to gauge post-program surveillance and debt relief.

Source: ABC News February 22, 2018 18:19 UTC