ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) convened on Friday to discuss the government’s new phased privatisation programme for the period 2024-29 and approved the privatisation of 24 public sector entities.

The meeting, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, also decided that additional public firms will be considered for privatisation following a review by the Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).

The review will categorise SOEs as either “strategic” or “essential”. Entities not classified as such will be presented to the CCOP for potential inclusion in the privatisation programme.

The CCOP was presented with a phased privatisation programme (2024-29) by the Ministry of Privatisation, based on the recommendations of the Privatisation Commis­sion’s board.

The CCOP recomm­e­n­ded that priority should be accorded to reducing the federal footprint in commercial space and limiting it to the strategic and essential SOEs only. The committee emphasised that even SOEs making profits would also be considered for privatisation.

The committee deliberated on privatisation policy guidelines, reviewing 84 SOEs listed in the ‘Federal Footprint’ State-Owned Enterprises Consolidated Report for fiscal years 2020-22, in the context of the SOE Act and Policy.

The CCOP also considered the proposal for transferring shares of OGDCL lying with the Privatisation Commission to a sovereign wealth fund or the Ministry of Energy. It was also decided that the status quo should be maintained for the time being. It also approved the budget estimates for the Privatisation Commission for FY25, amounting to Rs8.17bn.

Mr Dar concluded the meeting by reaffirming the government’s commitment to implementing the privatisation programme with transparency.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2024