Govt to privatize 8 institutions in 2011-12: minister

ISLAMABAD: The government has completed its plans to privatize eight different state-owned organizations during the current fiscal year, said Federal Minister for Privatization, Ghaus Bakhsh Mahar here on Tuesday.

Talking to mediamen, he said that including OGDCL exchangeable bonds, shares of KAPCO, HBL, PPL and National Bank would be sold through local stock markets whereas the management control of Heavy Electrical Complex (HEC), National Power Construction Company (Jaddah), NPPC, FESCO and SME Bank would be handed over to the private sector.

"The process of privatization would be done with the assent of its shareholders and it would be totally transparent ", he added.

To a question, the minister said that currently there are no constraints between MQM and PML-Q and the government is expecting responsible behavior from MQM.

He said that if the MQM had been stressing for division of Hyderabad city into four districts for better management then why it is raising objections for the division of Karachi into five districts.

The federal minister who is also the provincial president of PML-Q said that the decision of implementation of comissionorate system was made for the welfare of the people.

"During devastating floods last year people could not get sufficient relief in the absence of this system.

He said that the country was facing various interior and external problems, and PML-Q decided to join the federal government in order to help solving all the problems, the country was facing including terrorism.

Ghaus Bakhsh said that Moonis Elahi case was a political one and it had no connection with the joining of PML-Q with the government.

Copyright APP (Associated Press of Pakistan), 2011