ISLAMABAD: Caret­aker Minister for Privatisation Fawad Hasan Fawad on Wednesday directed the financial advisor and the management of First Women Bank Ltd (FWBL) to expedite the sell-off process.

Chairing a meeting to review the progress on the proposed plan of action for the divestment of FWBL, the minister stressed the timely completion of the transaction and that there should not be any delays.

The timelines for completion of necessary prerequisites for the pre-qualification of potential investors were also agreed upon and finalised during the meeting.

This was the first high-level meeting following the extension of the financial services agreement with the adviser as approved by the Privatisation Commission Board last month.

Chief Executive Officer and President FWBL Farrukh Iqbal briefed the meeting on the status of audited accounts and the management accounts.

The bank operates a network of 42 branches spread across 24 cities nationwide. The federal government through the Ministry of Finance holds 82.64 per cent shares in FWBL, whereas the rest are held by MCB, HBL, ABL, NBP and UBL.

Published in Dawn, December 7th, 2023