August 19, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-us-Sani 20, 1424

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18: The government on Monday directed the Privatization Commission to divest another 3.2 per cent shares of National Bank of Pakistan through stock market.

A decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Privatization (CCoP) which also gave green signal for the initial public offering (IPO) of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC).

The CCoP was presided over by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz and attended by senior officials of all the relevant ministries.

The committee also directed the Privatization Commission to expedite the privatization of Pakistan State Oil (PSO), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (Fesco) and Jamshoro Power Company (Japco).

The CCoP also approved the transaction structure for the privatization of National Construction Limited (NCL). The meeting was informed that data room for the due diligence by the parties being pre-qualified for HBL would be opened in early September.

It was informed that a meeting of the potential bidders of PSO would be convened within this month to finalize and announce a bidding date for the blue chip in October 2003.

The CCoP also agreed that the IPO of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) should be taken in hand soon after the IPO of OGDCL. Simultaneously, the strategic sale of PPL shares would also take place but the decision about the percentage of its shares to be sold through bidding would be taken sometime later.

The government has already taken a decision to offer 5-10 per cent shares of these entities to the general public through the stock exchange to expand the capital market base.

The CCoP was also informed that a committee led by former NWFP finance minister Farooq Rahman has been constituted to give recommendations on the sale of Karachi Shipyard Engineering within a period of 15 days.

The meeting was informed that seven, out of 19 parties which had submitted expression of interest (EoI) for Habib Bank Limited, have sent their statements of qualification (SoQs) for their pre-qualification.

The meeting was informed that the government has so far realized Rs5.7 billion through the sale of shares of Pakistan Oilfields Limited, D.G. Khan Cement and Attock Refinery Limited.