The Federal Cabinet has approved selling its stakes in five energy companies to UAE for $2 billion on a government-to-government (G2G) basis, sources told ProPakistani.
These companies include Oil & Gas Development Company (OGDCL), Balloki Power Plant, Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant, and two other oil and gas companies.
Sources said that during today’s meeting of the Federal Cabinet, the approval to sell shares of OGDCL and two other oil and gas companies was given to fund the external financing gap. There had been a controversy regarding whether the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had demanded the country finance the gap to which Miftah Ismail has said that no such demand was placed by the IMF. The government was only arranging the funds to finance its external financing deficit.
Along with the sale of the shares, the government is also planning to sell Balloki Power Plant and Haveli Bahadur Shah Power Plant on a G2G basis to UAE, sources revealed. Miftah Ismail had previously mentioned the sale of both plants during a press conference in Islamabad, however, he had not revealed the country’s name. Similarly, today during a seminar, Miftah again mentioned the government’s plans to sell both plants without mentioning the value of the plants or the name of the country.
Sources say that the total funding through selling company shares, and both plants would amount to $2 billion.
It is to be noted that the government is yet to issue an ordinance in this regard as the session of the National Assembly (NA) is underway, and an ordinance cannot be issued during its commencement. However, sources say that the ordinance will most likely be issued after the NA session has ended.
It is expected that the ordinance being issued on a G2G basis may be exempted from five different rules. This includes the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) rules, stock market rules, privatization rules, and the Companies Act.
