Rs100bn target to be achieved thru privatisation: Soomro

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Privatization Muhammadmian Soomro on Monday said the federal government would achieve the target of Rs 100 billion from privatization of public sector property during the current financial year.

The minister was talking to media at a local hotel during the auction of property of Republic Motors Limited owned by the ministry of industries and production. He said the process of privatization of State Life Insurance Corporation had started while the preliminary study to privatize the PESCO and HESCO power distribution companies was underway. He said the current political situation would not affect the government's economic agenda.

The federal minister said that in the first phase of auction of 24 properties owned by the federal government in different parts of the country, including Islamabad, has ended today (Monday) in Lahore and the government has earned Rs 1.07 billion. He said the federal government had started its first phase of auction of government properties across the country on September 7. Later, the federal government put Republic Motors Limited for auction with reserve price of Rs 5 billion in the provincial capital. However, the auction of the property had to be postponed as no interested party came before for bidding. The federal government had earlier auctioned the properties in Multan, Vehari, Rahim Yar Khan, Nawabshah and Kaghan. The auctioned properties would be transferred to the owners after the approval of the federal cabinet committee for privatization. He also said that the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) government was not afraid of any movement by the opposition. Furthermore, he said the incumbent government would not only complete its five-year tenure but also come into power again for next tenure. He said the government had no agenda to push the opposition against the wall, adding that the government was always ready to negotiate with the opposition.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020