Govt Delays NBP Privatization Due to Legal Issues

The federal government on Monday postponed the privatization of the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) due to legal issues. This contradicts an earlier commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to remove the special status of seven state-owned companies, including the NBP, reported Express Tribune. Last month, Pakistan assured the IMF that it would withdraw the special status of these firms. However, the government cited this special status as the reason for keeping NBP public. This was decided at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs) with Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in the chair. The committee also decided to retain the EXIM Bank in the public sector by designating it as an essential State-Owned Enterprise (SOE). The Pakistan Sovereign Wealth Fund Act exempts companies under its control from the SOE Act of 2023, designed to improve governance and financial controls of public-sector companies. The government had previously agreed to amend this act to bring the NBP and other firms under the SOE Act by the end of December. Despite some members advocating for NBP’s privatization, legal challenges delayed it. The government is currently categorizing the remaining 61 entities and plans to privatize non-essential and non-strategic companies.