Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said more shares of some eight listed State owned Enterprises (SoEs) will be floated within the next three weeks while that of 24 non-listed SoEs by the year-end.
“Share of eight SoEs that are already listed on the country’s capital market will be floated within next 15 to 20 days,” the finance minister told reporters after a meeting at his secretariat office in the capital, Dhaka on Sunday.
The government has decided to offload shares of a total of 26 SoEs, of these two are already listed.
The finance minister said, “We have set a target for them (SoEs) for offloading shares by December this year.
Mr Muhith mentioned the names of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company and Atlas Bangladesh as listed SoEs, shares of which will be floated.
About the floatation of shares of the state-owned mobile-phone operator Teletalk Bangladesh Limited, the finance minister said the company has also to float share by set timeframe.
The finance minister’s announcement on floatation of SoEs’ share came at a time when the country’s two bourses and experts were pursuing the government for bringing more issue of state enterprises in stock market to help stabilize the country’s overpriced capital market.
Leaders of the two bourses — Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange — in a joint press conference had sought the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s intervention in early flotation of SoEs’ share in the market.
DESCO, Powergrid, Padma Oil, Jamuna Oil, Meghna Petroleum, Titas Gas and Atlas Bangladesh are among the listed SoEs and more shares of those will be floated, the Financial Express (FE), a local newspaper, reported quoting sources.
BBN/SSR/AD-01Nov10-11:49 am (BST)
