Govt devising ways to offload shares of state companies

The government is devising ways to offload state-owned companies' shares as well as its stakes in multinational firms that are operating in Bangladesh.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith is expected to attend a high profile meeting tomorrow in this regard.

Secretaries, Chairman of Bangla-desh Securities and Exchange Commission, and representatives of the Civil Aviation Authority, the Bangladesh Bank, the Dhaka and Chittagong bourses and the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh will attend the meeting.

The purpose of the meeting is to discuss how funds can be raised from the capital market through listing of state-owned companies as well as offloading of government stakes in different multinational companies, said a senior official of the finance ministry.

The issues of share offloading and listing of some 45 companies including state-owned enterprises and multinational companies where the government has significant stakes will also be discussed.

Additional share offloading of the already listed state-owned companies such as Titas Gas, Padma Oil, Eastern Lubricants, Desco, Power Grid Company, Meghna Petroleum, Jamuna Oil, Usmania Glass and Atlas Bangladesh will also be discussed, he added.

The listing of state-owned companies in the stockmarket is a long discussed issue: the government in January 2010 had selected 26 state companies and instructed them to offload shares in the next six months, but it never materialised.

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company was the last state-owned company to be listed on the stockmarket in 2008.

There are allegations that the board members, especially those who come from different ministries and divisions, do not want to list the companies.

They fear they will no longer get to enjoy different benefits and they will also have to become more accountable and transparent by complying with the corporate governance guideline.

But market stakeholders such as the Dhaka and Chittagong bourses, merchant bankers and stockbrokers were calling for the listing of state-owned companies and multinational firms for long to boost the supply of shares in the secondary market. However, everyone is now waiting to see the outcome of tomorrow's meeting, where the 45 companies' latest position will be placed.

The list includes: some gas and power companies, Bangladesh Blade Factory, Bangabandhu Bridge, Pragati Industries and Biman Bangladesh.

The multinational firms include Unilever Bangladesh, Mirpur Ceramics Works, Fisons Bangladesh, Hoechst Bangladesh, Organon Bangladesh, British American Tobacco Bangladesh and Reckitt Benckiser Bangladesh.