Islamabad: Minister for Privatisation Mohammad Mian Soomro has requested both the local and international banks to participate as lenders in the privatisation of the Balloki and Haveli Bahadur Power Plants, according to a news report published on July 24. The government plans to complete these power projects by December.
He was accompanied by Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Nadeem Babar, and held meetings at the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). These meetings were with members and executives of banks such as the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), the United Bank Limited (UBL), the Allied Bank Limited (ABL), the Habib Metropolitan bank, Bank Alfalah, Meezan Bank, and Faysal Bank among others.
These commercial banks have also been instructed to increase the requisite long-term financing, to be within the benchmark approved by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA). This will help attract investors to the project and make them feel more secure during the bidding process. Soomro stated that privatising these plants is an important project, and the participation of local banks is important to provide confidence to more potential bidders.
