Overview
- The Cabinet Committee on Privatisation approved a plan on Monday to restructure Faisalabad (FESCO), Gujranwala (GEPCO) and Islamabad (IESCO) distribution companies by readying parts of them for sale.
- Under the deal the government will transfer Rs911 billion of assets against Rs648 billion of liabilities, leaving buyers with net equity of about Rs263 billion.
- All land parcels and certain liabilities for already retired staff will be carved out to a government-owned special purpose vehicle, while retirement benefits for current employees will remain with the DISCOs.
- The IMF bars netting receivables against payables unless those cross-arrears are independently audited, and the government says it will commission external audits and register a pension-transfer company to meet that condition.
- Next steps include forming the SPV and pension company, completing the audits and then running the transaction process; the three DISCOs serve over 14 million customers and the government says land will be leased at existing rates to avoid raising tariffs.