PC BOARD REVIEWS PRIVATISATION OF POWER SECTOR

Islamabad, March 4, 2004

Privatisation of Power sector entities is imperative for enhancing, improving and upgrading the system capacities through quality players from the private sector. Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh Federal Minister for Privatisation & Investment stated this while chairing the Privatisation Commission Board meeting here today.

The Minister said that there was immense need to improve the country's power sector to bring in efficiencies for extending better services to the domestic and commercial consumers. All stakeholders should be taken into confidence before reaching any tariff formula and joint efforts were required to provide comfort for the investor through effective measures, which should also take due care of the consumer's interests, he added.

Dr. Hafeez Shaikh said that through the privatisation process the government had reduced the fiscal burden and the losses and at the same time the privatized entities had started contributing through generating revenues and simultaneously adding value to the Government's remaining shareholdings in such units. The government was committed to the economic structural reforms process through the privatisation of the Public sector entities through a transparent and competitive process, he said.

The PC Board recommended including Printing Corporation of Pakistan, various units of Ministry of Water & Power and consider the option of package sale of remaining industrial units to sustain the existing accelerated pace of the privatisation process. The Privatisation Commission Board also reviewed the progress and status of various other ongoing transactions.

The PC Board members, senior officials of Ministry of Finance, Water & Power, NEPRA and PC attended the meeting.