Govt decides to privatize 20 state owned loss-making institutions

ISLAMABAD: The newly elected government of Imran Khan reportedly decided to sell-off approximately 20 state owned loss-making institutions in a bid to address economic depletion.

Sources in the ministry said that the Privatization Commission has approved a five-year plan to dispose of state-owned loss-making entities.

The government has delayed the privatization of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and the national flag carrier airline PIA, whereas SME Banks and First Woman Bank will be privatized on priority basis.

A list of entities-to-be-privatized will be presented during a session of the privatization board scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday).

“Government has no plan to retrench the employees of the state-owned entities,” said Federal Minister for Privatization Mian Muhammad Somroo.

Finance Minister Asad Umar had said his government would place major state-owned enterprises, including the national flag carrier, into a special fund to be managed at arm’s length from the government.

“The corporations will all be put in a wealth fund, which will be led by people from the private sector. We plan to transfer government owned companies under the control of the wealth fund within our first 100 days,” he added.

Umar said the fund would be used to revive loss-making or under-performing state-owned enterprises, citing the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) as one company that needed to be restructured.

Sources told that 62 PSEs have been selected in the first phase. The list included House Building Finance Cooperation, Industrial Development Bank Limited, Small and Medium Enterprise Bank, First Women Bank Limited, National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and National Investment Trust Limited (NITL).

Similarly, the Ministry of Commerce’s sub-ordinate departments like National Insurance Company (NIC), Pakistan Reinsurance Company (PRC), State Life Insurance Cooperation (SLIC) and Trading Cooperation of Pakistan (TCP) are included in the list.

Furthermore, Oil and Gas development Cooperation Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Pakistan State Oil limited (PSO), Sui Northern Gas Pipeline (SNGPL), Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC), Mari Petroleum Limited (MPL), Government Holding Private Limited (GHPL), Pakistan Mineral Development Cooperation (PMDC), Lakhra Coal Development Company are also in the list.

All the distribution companies including FESCO, GEPCO, IESCO, LESCO, MEPCO, PESCO, HESCO, QESCO, SEPCO, KAPCO, GENCO, Central Power Generation Company Limited (CPGCL), Lakhra Power Generation Company limited, Nothern Power Generation Company limited, Civil Aviation Authority, Pakistan International Airlines Cooperation and PIA Roosevelt and Scribe Hotels in New York and Paris are also made part of the list.

It is pertinent to mention that the auditor general of Pakistan a week ago shared with the ECC a report on audit findings pertaining to financial and operational issues in the four power distribution companies namely HESCO, PESCO, QESCO and SEPCO in the years 2016-17 and 2017-18.

 

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