04 March 2005	Friday	22 Muharram 1426

ISLAMABAD, March 3: The government plans to complete the initial public offerings (IPOs) of United Bank Limited (UBL) and State Life Insurance Corporation (SLIC) before June 30 said minister for privatization and investment Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh.

He told a news briefing that the size of these IPOs would be decided by the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation shortly. He said nine of ten bidders for the privatisation of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) have pre-qualified out of a total 18 investors.

Responding to a question, the minister said the date for submission of expressions of interest (EOIs) for privatization of Pakistan State Oil has been extended on the request of prospective investors because it was a big transaction and different parties wanted to form consortium. So far five companies have submitted their EOIs, he said.

The minister said the people should get prepare their computerized national identity cards and open their bank accounts for the upcoming offerings of UBL and Slic. He said the process was currently underway to hand over KESC to the new buyer and added that all the liabilities and losses of the company till the time of transfer would be borne by the federal government under the agreement.