Greece to sell 3mn carbon rights

ATHENS: Greece said on Wednesday it would auction a total 3 million carbon emission rights this month, as part of the debt-laden country's asset sale programme to pay down debt and plug its budget deficit.

Two auctions to be held on July 14 and July 27 will sell some 1.5 million spot EU allowances each, the Athens Stock Exchange said in a statement.

Athens hopes to rise up to 170 million euros ($245.3 million) from the sale of 10 million allowances from a reserve this year.

But this goal may prove out of reach after the prices of carbon emission rights fell by about 20 percent last month, partly because of fears over Greece's debt crisis.

Greece sold 1.1 million carbon allowances for 12.70 euros each in June. The market rate for spot EU allowances at the time the auction ended was 12.96 euros.

Copyright Reuters, 2011