PESHAWAR, Sept 26: The Allied Bank Officers Federation has demanded of the government to ensure protection and jobs security of the employees before selling the bank to private sector.

Speaking at a news conference st the Peshawar Press Club here on Friday, president of the federation, Aziz Ahmed Khan, said that after the experience of the ABL purchase by its employees 11 years ago, the bank was again ready to be sold to private sector.

According to him, the ABL had incurred huge financial losses due to which its employees felt insecure. He said with the efforts of the present bank President, Khalid Sherwani, the institution had attained financial stability to some extent.

The bank’s balance-sheet now showed about Rs1.300 billion profit, he said. Mr Aziz appreciated the decision by the State Bank of Pakistan to extend the tenure of the ABL president by three more years, saying this would prove beneficial not only for the organization but also for its employees.

He said that in the wake of the privatization of the ABL, the federation of the bank had decided to reorganise the employees and conduct fresh elections in October to protect the rights of the employees.