Austria plans to use its stakes in companies to raise 500 million euros

VIENNA (Reuters) -Austria's government plans to spend roughly 500 million euros ($579 million) on reducing electricity bills for the general public, and the funds will come from the state's stakes in companies, Chancellor Christian Stocker said on Wednesday.

The surprise announcement at a press conference on the day Stocker returned to his office after back surgery prompted several questions from reporters about how exactly the money would be raised, but Stocker declined to elaborate.

Austria holds stakes in various companies including listed ones such as oil firm OMV, utility Verbund, Austrian Post and A1 Telekom Austria, part of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's America Movil.

"It will be possible to make these 500 million available from our stakes," Stocker said, adding that the spending would be budget-neutral, meaning it would not deepen a deficit that the centrist coalition government is trying to rein in.

"I understand that you would like me to tell you in detail which company it will come from and what method will be used," Stocker said. "We know how we want to do it. We will agree on the details (within the government)."

A spokesperson for public holdings company OBAG, which manages the state's biggest stakes in firms, declined to comment on the announcement.

($1 = 0.8639 euros)

(Reporting by Francois Murphy and Alexandra Schwarz-Goerlich. Editing by Alex Richardson and Mark Potter)