Govt aims to complete OGDCL transaction by September 2014

Dar emphasises that privatization commission maintain transparency, fairness and due process.

ISLAMABAD: With the IMF pushing Pakistan on the sale of loss making enterprises, the government on Tuesday outlined its plan to complete the transaction for Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) by September, 2014.

This was announced during a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCoP) chaired by finance minister Ishaq Dar at the Finance Ministry on Tuesday.

Minister of State for Privatisation Muhammad Zubair, in a detailed briefing, explained that the ommission has been working to follow the timelines given by the CCoP to complete the transactions that have already been approved.

With shares of state owned entities PPL and UBL already offloaded through the capital markets, OGDCL is next on the chopping block.

Zubair said that work on the OGDCL transaction is being done on the fast track basis and the transaction is expected to be completed by September, 2014.

Dar emphasised that during the whole process the privatization commission will have to maintain transparency, fairness and due process at all levels of the transaction and no compromise on a ‘fair price’ for the transaction.

The finance minister stressed that no share will be sold for less, adding that, efforts should be made for maximising participation from both foreign and domestic investors.

He noted that the oversubscribed Eurobond, auction of spectrum licenses and now sale of UBL and PPL shares, international investors have more confidence in the financial standing of the country.

The meeting was also attended by Advisor to Finance Ministry Rana Assad Amin, Special Assistant to Finance Minister Shahid Mahmood and senior officials of the Privatisation Commission and the Ministry of Finance.