February 9, 2002	Saturday	Ziqa’ad 25, 1422

LAHORE, Feb 8: The Corporate & Industrial Restructuring Corporation (CIRC) intends to auction nine more sick units during this month.

The units to be put to sale by the corporation this month are: Mohammad Jamil Shabbir & Co, Broad Looms Ltd, Al-Ammar Pak Ltd, Abaseen International, Karim Weaving Mills Private Ltd, Harmain Private Ltd, East Yarn Trading Company Private Ltd, Sidra Industries Private Ltd, and Shaheen Foods Private Ltd.

Five of these units are located in Punjab, three in Sindh and one in Balochistan.

Auction will take place at Karachi on Feb 14, 18 and 20 whereas the dates of auction at Lahore are Feb 18, 19, 20, 27 and 28, 2002.

The CIRC has already sold 32 sick units for Rs687 million in the last nine months. Of all the units sold so far, 20 are located in Punjab, nine in Sindh and one each in Balochistan and the NWFP. Some 4,500 jobs would be created with the revival of these units.

The CIRC had put up 47 units for open auction between May 2001 and January 2002 out of 208 sick industries whose bad loans of Rs21 billion were assumed by the corporation.

All the loans assumed by the CIRC pertain to six government- owned banks and non-banking financial institutions, including HBL, ABL, IDBP, UBL and NDFC.