ISLAMABAD – Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP), in its meeting withAdviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh,has asked for increasing the pace of work on privatization of Small andMedium Enterprises (SME) Bank Limited as well as PIA Investment Limited.
Earlier, CCoP was told that the transaction structure has been reviewed andrecommended by a transaction committee constituted by the PrivatisationCommission. It includes PC Board Members, Finance Division and State Bankof Pakistan.
The meeting was informed that the committee held four meetings beforepresenting the transaction structure to the CCoP for consideration andapproval. The meeting was also informed about the pre-qualificationcriteria reviewed and approved by the PC Board for prospective bidders.
CCoP also discussed privatization of PIA-Investment Limited and approved aproposal for the constitution of a task force to examine and process allnecessary formalities for early disposal of PIA’s properties, including theRoosevelt Hotel in New York and Hotel Scribe in Paris.
Based on CCoP’s decision, the task force will be headed by PrivatisationCommission Minister Muhammad Mian Soomro and includes Special Assistant toPrime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis & HRD Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari,Secretary Privatisation Commission and Additional Secretary Ministry ofFinance as well as legal and financial consultants on the Roosevelt HotelCorp and other officials deemed necessary to be co-opted by the Task Force.
The committee also directed PIA’s management to present the findings of afeasibility study conducted in pursuance of a CCoP decision and to updatethe committee on a monthly basis regarding the progress of the work andalso advised the airline management to carry out its plan in coordinationwith the Aviation Division.
The CCoP rejected the request of Earthquake Reconstruction andRehabilitation Authority (ERRA) for delisting 17 properties from 32 assetsbeing processed for sale by Privatization Commission. However, itconsidered delisting of ERRA properties till June 2020 when it would beincluded in the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
EERA was of the view that deferring the privatization of its assets tillJune 2020 will provide it adequate time for possible legislation forincorporating these properties into the National Disaster Management Fund(NDMF).
The Privatization Commission (PC) told CCoP that 17 properties of EERA havebeen shortlisted for privatization in pursuance of the federal cabinet’sdecision in March 2019. An inter-ministerial committee was constituted bythe Prime Minister for 32 properties belonging to nine ministries,divisions and organizations, which had proposed these properties for saleto the Privatization Commission.
The PC has already hired a financial adviser for the sale of theseproperties. withdrawal of properties as being proposed by the EERA willadversely affect the whole privatization process, besides sending negativesignals to potential buyers and investors.