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Islamabad, 27 February 2003
Apropos a news item appearing in a section of the press on 26 February 2003 regarding the valuation of Pakistan State Oil (PSO) attributed to an international newswire service Dow Jones.
A Spokesman of Privatisation Commission has clarified that not only it is quite premature but also irresponsible to comment on either the valuation or the expected proceeds form the transaction. The valuation exercise of the Company is currently being undertaken by reputable international experts in the oil and gas sector and will thereafter be processed in consultation with all the relevant stakeholders. This exercise involves a thorough assessment of the company, prevailing conditions in the market, projections on future business, technical assumptions such as future capital and operating costs plans etc. Suffice to say that the Government will endeavor to get the maximum proceeds from the divestment of its share in the Company. It is, however, surprising that in this regard the publications have deemed it appropriate to take notice of the purported "statements" by alleged "government officials" and "sources involved in the privatisation process". Such purported statements often lead to speculation by vested interests for short-term gains, which are detrimental to the development of these markets, he said.
The Spokesman further clarified that as part of its functions the Privatisation Commission regularly publicises the activities of the Privatisation Programme. The purpose of this is (i) to disseminate information to all the stakeholders including the public to the intent, scope and timing of the privatisation process and (ii) prepare the groundwork required for the processing of the transaction.
However, this is done, when appropriate, in a coordinated fashion through
official Hand Outs / Press Releases. Such sanctioned press releases are the
only source of official position of the Privatisation Commission in such
matters. The Spokesman also attributed the recent rise in the PSO script
value to broad based rally in the market on account of positive market
sentiment in response to the various macroeconomic and other measures
initiated by the Government and the good financial results of various listed
companies including PSO. The
announcement of 20% bonus and 80% dividend by PSO had a demonstrable positive
impact on its market price.
The Spokesman reiterated that any conjecture on the Privatisation process should be avoided in the interests of the transaction and reaffirmed the Government commitment to handle the privatisation process in a professional manner and move it forward with utmost transparency and in the best interests of the nation the Spokesman concluded.