By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered ministries overseeing the sale of state assets to hit every deadline in the government’s privatization program, as officials reported progress on transactions ranging from the national airline to regional power utilities.
Sharif, presiding over a review in Islamabad, told relevant ministries and institutions to coordinate closely to ensure all targets under the program are met, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. The directive came as officials briefed him on a 27-company privatization drive being rolled out in three phases.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar joined the session, along with Federal Ministers Khawaja Muhammad Asif, Jam Kamal Khan, Ahad Khan Cheema and Sardar Awais Khan Leghari, the PMO said.
Officials confirmed that financial close has been completed for both Pakistan International Airlines and First Women Bank, with management control of the flag carrier transferred on June 29 — a milestone in a sale process that has dragged on for years amid union resistance and pricing disputes.
Attention is now shifting to three electricity distribution companies serving Punjab, the Islamabad region and parts of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The government has advertised expressions of interest for Islamabad Electric Supply Co., Faisalabad Electric Supply Co. and Gujranwala Electric Power Co., with submission deadlines of Aug. 7, Aug. 21 and Sept. 7, respectively. The three utilities collectively serve more than 14 million consumers, and the transactions on offer would hand buyers between 51% and full ownership along with management control. Officials told Sharif that international companies have shown interest and that investor roadshows are underway.
On Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd., the state agricultural lender, Sharif instructed officials to structure any sale in a way that preserves the bank’s core mission of financing small and medium-scale farmers. “It must be ensured that even after privatisation, the Zarai Taraqiati Bank’s focus on providing agricultural loans and financial resources to small and medium-scale farmers remains intact,” he said, according to the PMO. Improving farmers’ access to credit is essential to lifting per-acre productivity and safeguarding food security, he added.
The meeting also reviewed plans to privatize Pakistan’s three main international airports — in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore. Sharif directed officials to keep close oversight of every transaction in the pipeline and ensure each stays on schedule.
The push for faster asset sales follows a pointed public remark last week from Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who said the system had “collapsed” and that problems would persist unless it were reset.
Separately, Sharif chaired a meeting on private investment at which he directed officials to draft, without delay, a roadmap for creating a private equity fund aimed at boosting SME financing and supporting sustainable growth. He asked for a comprehensive plan covering both the fund and the development of Pakistan’s public equity market, framing both as tools to widen access to investment capital and draw foreign inflows.
“The promotion of private investment is essential for the country’s economic growth,” Sharif said, according to a separate PMO statement. He said private equity vehicles could catalyze investment, business expansion and job creation, singling out mining, agriculture, livestock, energy and information technology as sectors with the potential to drive growth. A deeper public equity market, he said, could funnel capital into those industries at a time when bank lending to investment projects remains constrained.
Sharif said his government is prioritizing policies to strengthen the economy on a sustainable footing through private sector-led investment, industrial expansion and export growth.
Minister of State Bilal Azhar Kayani, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Haroon Akhtar, Dar and senior officials attended that session, the PMO said.
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