DNA

ISLAMABAD, AUG 31- Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh chaired the meeting of Cabinet Committee on State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) here at the Cabinet Division.

The Adviser was given a detailed briefing on the triage of State Owned Entities. The triage was undertaken for  i) Liquidation, ii) Privatization and iii) Retention under government ownership, on the basis of economic rationale and financial performance of SOEs. The CCoSOEs discussed in detail the proposed SOEs for retention, privatization and for restructuring. The Advisor directed that the list should be reviewed and revisited till the next meeting and a new category may be introduced in the list where ownership may be retained by the government and the entity can be operated by the private sector for better management.

A draft Law on the State Owned Enterprises was also discussed in the meeting. The Adviser directed that the law may be reviewed further in consultation with the line Ministries/Divisions and the Law Division.

There was also a proposal on the Forensic Audit of the Major Loss Making SOEs on the instructions of the Prime Minister. The Chair directed that before taking a final decision on the proposed forensic audit, detailed information on the following aspects may be shared with CCoSOEs in its next meeting; (i) the availability of sufficient forensic audit expertise within AGP, (ii) the estimated cost in case the audit is to be outsourced to leading audit firms, (iii) the proposed time duration of forensic audit, and (iv) a proposed list of loss-making entities for forensic audit. He further advised that line Ministries/Divisions may also be consulted to select the companies and that the companies may not be concentrated in a particular sector. He instructed that these proposals need to be finalized by the next meeting of the CCoSOEs.