Cabinet committee principally approves 24 entities for privatisation programme

ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP), principally and for the time being, approved 24 state-owned enterprises for the privatisation programme, directing the Ministry of Privatisation to deliberate the phasing of each entity in consultation with the respective ministries.

The committee, which met here under the chair of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, was presented with a phased privatisation programme (2024-29) by the Ministry of Privatisation, based on the recommendations of PC Board, according to a press release.

The meeting was also attended by other committee members including the finance minister, minister for commerce, minister for privatisation, minister for industries and production, State Bank of Pakistan governor, SECP chairman besides federal secretaries of various ministries and division, the official news agency reported.

The CCOP recommended that priority shall be accorded to 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 SOEs making profit 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.

Following the deliberations, the committee recommended that 40 SOEs, categorised as strategic or essential, shall be placed by respective ministries before the Cabinet Committee on State Owned Enterprises (CCoSOE) 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, it added.

The CCOP directed the 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 directed all ministries/divisions to take up their cases of strategic and essential SOEs with CCoSOE at the earliest so that a comprehensive phased privatisation programme is finalised in the next meeting of CCOP.

The CCOP also considered the proposal for transfer of 322,460,900 shares of OGDCL from the Privatisation Commission’s CDC’s account to Ministry of Energy (Petroleum Division).

The matter was deferred with the direction to Law and Justice Division to holistically examine the provisions of Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, 2023 in the instant case and submit its recommendations before the CCOP in its next meeting.