ISLAMABAD – The government plans to raise $ 2 billion by offloading shares of banks and energy companies on the local stock exchanges as well as exchangeable bonds in the international markets to bridge the rising fiscal deficit during the current fiscal year. Privatisation Minister Syed Naveed Qamar said in a statement that the government would offload some of its shares in the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Kot Addu Power Company (KAPCO) and Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) at the local stock exchanges during this financial year.
The shares of the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) would be utilised to market equity-linked bonds internationally. He said the government would raise the desired capital as the balance sheets of the mentioned companies were in profit.
The proceeds would be used to cut the budget deficit. The minister said the dispute over transferring property titles with Etisalat had been resolved and it would soon pay $800 million to Pakistan. Etisalat bought 26 percent stake into PTCL in 2006 by giving $2.6 billion wining bid. However, it withheld a part of the payment due to a dispute over transferring property titles.
