ISLAMABAD: In a Rs105 billion transaction, the government on Wednesday approved swapping of its ownership in Pakistan Security Printing Company (PSPC) to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) against full control of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Ltd (ZTBL) to meet a commitment made with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Entities (CCoSOE), at a meeting presided over by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, approved the proposed transaction and declared Pakistan Railways as “strategic and essential” for retention in the government’s hands.

National Security Printing Company (NSPC) used to be a government-owned entity under the Ministry of Finance to print all government documents until the last PML-N government (2013-18) when its sister entity Pakistan Security Printing Company (PSPC) was created for dedicated printing of prize bonds and currency notes. It was owned by the SBP. The current PML-N government decided to hand over even the NSPC to the SBP for merger with PSPC. The SBP will pay about Rs41.77bn to the MOF.

On the other hand, the authorities made a commitment with the IMF that SBP would offload its stakes in all the banks and financial institutions before June 30, 2025 to remove conflict of interest. Therefore, a deal was finalized for SBP’s total shareholding in ZTBL to the federal government against a payment of Rs62.9bn.

Govt retains control of Railways, calling it ‘strategic and essential’

The difference between the two transaction worth of about Rs21.16bn payable by federal government to the SBP would be settled against government share in central bank’s retained profit.

An official statement said the CCoSOE approved the signing of share-purchase agreement between the MOF and SBP for “Re-merger of National Security Printing Company (NSPC) — State Owned Enterprise (SOE) with Pakistan Security Printing Corporation (PSPC) owned by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP)” and “Acquisition of State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP’s) shares in Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL).” It approved the acquisition of NSPC by SBP’s PSPC at a Rs41.774bn value.

The meeting also allowed the Finance Division to purchase SBP’s 4,015,599,174 equity shares in ZTBL at Rs8.473bn and to acquire SBP’s preference shares in ZTBL at a fixed value of Rs54.465bn. “The committee also approved the adjustment of NSPC transaction proceeds against the ZTBL shares transaction, with the remaining amount to be adjusted against SBP’s retained surplus profit.

The committee also restructured the board of directors of GENCOs Holding Company Limited (GHCL), Jamshoro Power Generation Company Limited (JPCL), Central Power Generation Company Limited (CPGCL), Northern Power Generation Company Limited (NPGCL), Lakhra Power Generation Company Limited (LPGCL) and National Power Parks Management Company Limited (NPPMCL) to ensure compliance with SOEs Amended Act and SOEs Policy 2023. The members of the board had already been approved by the prime minister himself.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2025