The Federal Minister for Privatization, Muhammad Mian Soomro says that the commission has initiated a program to privatize 17 public sector entities and sell 32 real estate properties of state-owned entities (SOEs).
He said this while chairing a program hosted by the Privatization Commission for stakeholders to discuss the prospects of privatization of SOEs in Karachi yesterday.
The privatization process is in line with the directions of Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCOP) chaired by Advisor to Prime Minister on Finance Hafeez Shaikh. The government intends to generate revenue through privatization of state-owned entities (SOEs) to meet the large debt servicing obligations of the country, he added.
Soomro said that the government is focusing on privatization under the directions of the prime minister, pursuant to the privatization law, to substantially minimize losses to the public exchequer.
“Through privatization, we are providing a level playing field to all the potential investors to compete for the purchase of entities or purchase shares of the entities in the capital market,” he maintained.
This will also strengthen the capital market of Pakistan and above all, it will attract both the local as well as foreign investors.
He said the government has taken an important step for the revival of Pakistan Steel Mills while the process for appointing a financial adviser has been initiated. He assured the investors that shares of OGDCL and PPL will be sold once conditions in the capital markets improve.
Soomro emphasized that there will be transparency and fairness in the privatization process, in accordance with the vision of the prime minister to eradicate corruption and to bring efficiency in the state-owned entities.
He said this event is part of the efforts to interact with the stakeholders and to ensure their participation. The minister said that all economic indications are positive with visible improvement during the current financial year.
Govt to Sell its Stake in ‘State Life’
The Federal Minister for Privatisation Muhammad Mian Soomro also announced that the government will sell its shares in State Life Insurance Corporation.
In a briefing to investors and financial sector, Muhammad Mian Soomro said that profit and market share of the State Life is shrinking, hence the incumbent government has decided to sell its stake in the loss-making organization.
We also argue that privatization may not lay the foundation of the so-called people’s capitalism in view of low incomes of the workers and the practice of insider-trading in the stock exchanges of Pakistan. At any rate, the value-added by the public industrial enterprises is such a small proportion of the Gross Domestic Product that not many growth points can be added on account of privatization.