Bank of Khyber: Privatisation reports rubbished

Information Minister says the political government will not interfere in the bank’s affairs.

PESHAWAR: Information Minister Mian Iftikhar has denied rumors about the privatisation of the Bank of Khyber (BoK). He said that the government was not privatizing the BoK, nor will there be any layoffs. He called reports of privatisation mere propaganda. He said that the political government will not interfere in the bank’s affairs, and was planning to devise a system to prevent anybody else to do so either. On the occasion, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Humayun Khan said that the provincial government owns about 51 per cent shares of the BoK, which it intends to retain. The government only planned to change the bank’s management, not privatise it, he said. He reassured stakeholders that the BoK was earning profits for the provincial government and it wanted to expand its operations. “Its privatisation is not an option,” he clarified.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25^th, 2012.