Limited disclosures: Privatisation of BoK is on the cards, says Sikander Sherpao

QWP leader claims govt plans to sell off K-P’s only public-sector financial institution.

PESHAWAR: Claiming to uncover the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government’s plans, Qaumi Watan Party K-P President Sikandar Hayat Sherpao said the privatisation of Bank of Khyber is on the cards.

Addressing a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Monday, Sherpao said the provincial cabinet has already “okayed” the decision. “BoK is the province’s only frontline public-sector financial institution,” he said, adding the government wants to sell its 51% stake to a private company from Sindh in return for peanuts.

“The bank is the property of the people of K-P and its resources should be utilised for their benefit,” he said. “The province’s fate is decided in Bani Gala, Islamabad.”

The MPA said the bank’s control is crucial for progress in the region. “BoK has anchored K-P’s ship in the most trying of times,” he said, adding the bank held its mark despite significant challenges since its inception in 1991.

Citing economic indicators to support his stance that the company is running successfully and does not need a change of hands, Sherpao said from 2010 to 2014, the bank’s deposits have jumped from Rs46 billion to Rs92 billion. “In two years, BoK has contributed Rs2 billion to the national exchequer in terms of tax,” he maintained. “The future of hundreds of its employees is at stake,” Sherpao said, adding private control will jeopardise the economic development of K-P.

“Our party will resist its privatisation on all fronts,” the QWP K-P president maintained.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 5^th, 2015.