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ICP funds to be merged All Habib Bank shares to be disinvested at one go

RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Privatisation Commission would disinvest all shares of Habib Bank Limited at one go and would evolve modalities for the merger of 26 Investment Corporation of Pakistan's mutual funds into one entity.

Altaf M. Saleem, chairman, Privatisation Commission, talking to newsmen at Karachi Stock Exchange on Saturday said that though the previous government had invited the expression of interest for HBL but the detail provided to bidders failed to satisfy them.

He added that the main factor was that the HBL had some dispute with the Bank of England which impeded privatisation of the bank. The government also intends to sell HBL's foreign branches. "But our strategy for the privatisation of the giant is disinvestment in one go", the PC chairman said. However, he did not mention any time frame to privatise the bank.

Arif Habib, Chairman, Karachi Stock Exchange, raised a point that one of the pre-conditions of the Asian Development Bank's under Capital Market Development Programme was disinvestment of shares of National Investment Trust and Investment Corporation of Pakistan.

The total worth of 26 mutual funds was around Rs 5 billion to Rs 6 billion invested by the general public and any group or consortium with a paid-up capital of Rs 300 million or less could become a strategic buyer of this open end mutual fund. In order to make the privatisation process transparent and safeguard the interest of the general public the government should merge all these mutual funds into one and to then go for privatisation of this financial institutions.

In response, Saleem said that this proposal would be submitted before the cabinet and PC would act accordingly so that a swift privatisation of ICP could take place.

To another question, the PC chairman said that the commission would not release any white paper on its performance since its inception. But by July this year the government would release an annual report of the commission .