Rezaul H Laskar
Islamabad, Feb 24 (TSN) President Asif Ali Zardari made an unannounced trip to the UAE to find an answer to Pakistan''s pressing economic problems against the backdrop of threats by US lawmakers to cut off aid over the detention of an American national who shot and killed two men last month.
Zardari visited Dubai for a couple of hours a few days ago to seek the intervention of the UAE''s leadership for the payment of USD 800 million that telecom major Etisalat owes to Pakistan for the country''s largest privatisation transaction on the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, the Dawn newspaper reported today.
Etisalat has held back the payment of about USD 800 million out of the USD 2.8 billion proceeds from PTCL''s privatisation for about four years because of a dispute with the Pakistan government over legal transfer of land and property titles. The government sold about 26 per cent stake and management control of PTCL in July 2005.
"The entire amount is expected within a few days," an unnamed official was quoted as saying.
The dispute between the government and Etisalat over the delay in transfer of some land titles to PTCL in Sindh province has been resolved, the official said.
The government is hopeful that this breakthrough, along with two other steps � a plan to raise another USD 1 billion from the sale of assets and about Rs 46 billion from new tax measures in the current fiscal � will strengthen Pakistan''s case before the International Monetary Fund.
Pakistan put on hold its talks with the IMF, which were tentatively scheduled for this week in Dubai, to finalise these three measures before seeking the revival of the IMF''s programme.
Apart from the money it is hoping Etisalat will pay, the government plans to raise about one billion dollars through a combination of international and domestic divestment of government shares in state-owned entities like Oil and Gas Development Company Limited, Islamabad Electric Supply Company and Habib Bank Limited.
The third step, which might be the most controversial politically, is additional taxation. (More) PTI RHL
Islamabad, Feb 24 (TSN) President Asif Ali Zardari made an unannounced trip to the UAE to find an answer to Pakistan''s pressing economic problems against the backdrop of threats by US lawmakers to cut off aid over the detention of an American national who shot and killed two men last month.
Zardari visited Dubai for a couple of hours a few days ago to seek the intervention of the UAE''s leadership for the payment of USD 800 million that telecom major Etisalat owes to Pakistan for the country''s largest privatisation transaction on the Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited, the Dawn newspaper reported today.
Etisalat has held back the payment of about USD 800 million out of the USD 2.8 billion proceeds from PTCL''s privatisation for about four years because of a dispute with the Pakistan government over legal transfer of land and property titles. The government sold about 26 per cent stake and management control of PTCL in July 2005.
"The entire amount is expected within a few days," an unnamed official was quoted as saying.
The dispute between the government and Etisalat over the delay in transfer of some land titles to PTCL in Sindh province has been resolved, the official said.
The government is hopeful that this breakthrough, along with two other steps � a plan to raise another USD 1 billion from the sale of assets and about Rs 46 billion from new tax measures in the current fiscal � will strengthen Pakistan''s case before the International Monetary Fund.
Pakistan put on hold its talks with the IMF, which were tentatively scheduled for this week in Dubai, to finalise these three measures before seeking the revival of the IMF''s programme.
Apart from the money it is hoping Etisalat will pay, the government plans to raise about one billion dollars through a combination of international and domestic divestment of government shares in state-owned entities like Oil and Gas Development Company Limited, Islamabad Electric Supply Company and Habib Bank Limited.
The third step, which might be the most controversial politically, is additional taxation. (More) PTI RHL
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