November 11, 2003	Tuesday	Ramazan 15, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 10: Pakistan is expected to appoint a consortium latest by Nov 13 to act as lead manager to float $500 million worth of Eurobonds in the international market, Dawn has learnt.

Informed sources said the ministry of finance had finalized a summary to the prime minister on the criteria for the selection of consortium members.

These sources said a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and attended by Finance Minister Shaukat Aziz would formally approve the appointment of the consortium.

Four parametres constitute the criteria for selection. (i) the consortium should have a presence in Pakistan; (ii) what ranking it has in the market; (iii) what price it offers to Pakistan; and (iv) how large is its investor coverage, the sources said.

The government has already short-listed four international banks and investment companies, out of a total of twelve applicants, to float Eurobonds on behalf of Pakistan.

J.P. Morgan, ABN Amro Bank, the UBS and Deutche Bank have been short-listed. All of them have given their final presentations to the finance ministry last week.

Sources said the government was interested in setting up a consortium of two to three banks and investment companies so that the proposed bonds were floated on competitive terms.

The sources said the government had decided to float these bonds during mid-January to mid-February 2004 instead of December this year because legal requirements would take six to eight weeks to complete and the consortium would also be required to do some ground work before floating the bonds.