Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Thursday that the government upholds a very transparent policy of privatisation which is aimed at converting organisations into profit-making entities and reducing the burden on the government exchequer.
During a Cabinet Committee on Privatisation meeting with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, the PM was informed that the privatisation will raise money equivalent to USD 387 million out of which 310 million will be the foreign exchange component while the remaining amount will be the rupee component.
Dar said that 90 percent of the proceeds will be used for debt retirement and 10 percent for poverty reduction.
The PM also appreciated the efforts of the finance minister for divestment of 19.8 percent of GOP shares of United Bank of Pakistan.
Elaborating other issues taken up in the meeting, Dar apprised that 31 PSEs were approved for fast-track privatisation by the previous government, adding that the present government is following the same list.
UBL, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) will be the first few to be privatised.
The UBL deal is the first success story which will be followed by PPL and OGDCL soon.
