March 10, 2002	Sunday	Zilhaj 25, 1422

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KARACHI, March 9: President Gen Pervez Musharraf said here on Saturday that the privatization of United Bank and Habib Bank will be completed before elections in October.

He said this during a meeting with heads of a dozen local and foreign banks at the State Bank head office. Sources privy to the meeting said the president told bankers that the government was making efforts to expedite the process of privatization, adding that the two state-run banks would be privatized before October.

“Though the president did not say so, one can infer from his remark that he wants to make it sure that the elected government does not reverse the process of privatization,” said one of the participants.

SBP AUTONOMY: Sources close to the meeting said Gen Musharraf agreed with one of the participants that red tape still existed though he claimed that his government had taken concrete steps to remove it. The banker, who heads a European bank in Pakistan, had pointed out that bureaucratic hurdles were still impeding smooth flow of foreign investment. He also complained that the process of decision-making in the government was still largely centralised.

Earlier, SBP Governor Dr Ishrat Husain briefed the president about the role played by the central bank in steering the economy out of a crisis during his tenure as SBP chief. Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and Secretary General Ministry of Finance Moin Afzal and members of the board of directors of SBP were also present on the occasion. Sources close to this meeting said the president assured the SBP directors that he would take steps to ensure that the autonomy so far given to the central bank was not taken away.

They also quoted the president as telling the meeting that legislation would be done to give protection to all economic reforms introduced since October, 1999, when the military government had taken over.