ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) on Friday was presented with a phased privatisation programme (2024-29) by the Ministry of Privatisation, based on the recommendations of the PC Board, in terms of Section 5(b) of the Privatisation Commission Ordinance, 2000.
The CCoP recommended that priority shall be accorded to the privatisation of loss-making entities while the federal footprint shall be limited only to the strategic and essential SOEs under the federal government’s domain.
The CCoP emphasised that even the SOE making profits shall be considered for privatisation.
After deliberating on the privatisation policy guidelines, the CCoP considered 84 SOEs in detail in light of the SOE Act and Policy and passed the following directions: Forty SOEs, categorised as Strategic or Essential, shall be placed by respective ministries before the Cabinet Committee on State Owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs) for their categorisation as Strategic or Essential;
Those SOEs which will not be categorised as Strategic or Essential shall be included in the Privatisation Programme;
The CCoP directed Ministry of Privatisation to deliberate the rationale provided by respective ministries for not including 18 SOEs in consultation with them and firmed up proposals regarding each shall be submitted to CCoP in its next meeting;
The CCoP, while approving 24 entities for the Privatisation Programme, in-principle, for the time being, directed the Ministry of Privatisation to deliberate the phasing of each entity in consultation with the respective ministries.
With the above directions, the CCoP directed all ministries/divisions to take up their cases of Strategic and Essential SOEs with the CCoSOE at the earliest so that a comprehensive phased privatisation programme is finalised in the next meeting of the CCoP.
The CCoP also considered the proposal for the transfer of 322,460,900 shares of the OGDCL from the Privatisation Commission’s CDC’s account to the Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division). The matter was deferred with the direction to the Law and Justice Division to holistically examine the provisions of the Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, 2023, in the instant case and submit its recommendations before the CCoP in its next meeting.
The meeting of the CCoP was held with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar in chair.
The meeting was also attended by other members of the committee including the finance minister, minister for commerce, minister for privatisation, minister for industries and production, governor State Bank of Pakistan, chairman SECP besides federal secretaries of various ministries and divisions.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024