Federal Minister for Privatisation Mohammedmian Soomro chaired an in-house review meeting in the Ministry today, Federal Secretary Hasan Nasir Jamy and senior officials attended the meeting.
Federal Minister said that a detailed meeting held wih the Prime Minister today about the current status of the privatisation process, advisor to PM on Finance Mr. Shaukat tareen was also present in the meeting, in the meeting it was discussed that the scope of Privatisation will be increased from profitable to heavy loss making SOEs so the burden on government deficit could be reduced. Federal Minsiter also said
that the PM assured assistance wherever required to expedite the process to meet the deadlines for completion of ongoing transactions. The following entities were discussed in the review meeting.
The matter relating to the height of Services International Hotel has been resolved with the stakeholders and the transaction is likely to be completed in coming month. For the sale of remaining properties, the summary regarding financial advisors will be placed in the upcoming Privatisation Board meeting to proceed with the auction. The summary regarding the pricing mechanism of Pak re-insurance will be placed before Cabinet Committee of Privatisation (CCOP), as the transaction committee in 2020, approved the transaction structure for divestment of up to the 20% share of PRCL. For National Power Parks Management Company Limited (NPPMCL) the summary regarding the approval of debt-recapitalization from local banks will be placed before CCoP in its next meeting, the Ministry of Privatisation recommended debt-recapitalization and refinancing through borrowing from local banks in order to replace the GoP’s excess equity. The privatisation timelines of House Building finance Corporation (HBFCL) are contingent upon the appointment/composition of BoD, while the board of First Women Bank held its first meeting and the EOIs for investors will be published after the board approves the current year’s financials.
For the revival of Pakistan Steel Mills, Statements of Qualification (SOQs) are being submitted from the reputed investors and the submission date is likely to be extended till November 15th, 2021. For the revival of DISCOs, the EOI for the FACs has been published last month.
Federal Minister said that the matters regarding the reference price of Heavy Electrical Complex (HEC) are approved and processed will be completedsoon. He also directed the privatisation team to expediate the completion of pending matters in order to meet the timelines of ongoing transactions.
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