Ministries clash on SOE privatisation

The fate of 40 state-owned enterprises (SOEs) deemed strategic and essential by respective ministries but not accepted as such by Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar remained undecided after Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb chaired a cabinet committee meeting on Monday. The Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (CCoSOEs) refrained from confirming the classification of these 40 enterprises as strategic assets of Pakistan, thus ineligible for privatisation. The Ministry of Finance informed the committee that the concerned ministries hadn’t furnished details regarding the companies they deemed strategic and essential. Last Friday, the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP), led by Dar, directed the CCoSOEs to reassess the proposed categorisation of these 40 entities. Despite the Ministry of Finance’s stance, the relevant ministries had already communicated their list of assets deemed strategic and essential. The committee, chaired by Aurangzeb, convened to address the CCOP’s directives but refrained from making a decision.