The government has taken a move to update its equity status involving 135 state-owned enterprises (SoEs).
The Finance Division has taken the move as it runs into difficulties with issuing fresh loans and handling other matters in the absence of updated information on the government's equities in such organisations.
The equity means ownership in any asset after all debts associated with it are paid off.
Talking to the FE on Thursday, a senior official at the Debt Service Liability (DSL) wing of the Finance Division said: "We've already issued letters to all organisations concerned in this connection."
"We've set May 15 as the last date for submission of their equity status reports," he added.
The government last updated the equity status up to June 30, 2012.
Until then, the government had equities to the tune of Tk 12.8 trillion (12,80,000 crore) with 135 entities under 22 divisions.
The official said they were facing problems with disbursing fresh loans as there was no updated information on the equity status of the government organisations.
The government needs to assess the debt-equity ratio of an organisation before disbursement of any fresh loan.
The DSL also disburses term loans at a low rate of interest.
The move will make the government's equity assessment and the process of debt recovery from state-owned enterprises (SOEs) more effective and efficient. The government gets dividend against the equities.
After assessing the government's overall stake in the SoEs, the authorities will publish a report.
According to the Finance Division, the government has the largest equity in the organisations under the ministry of post and telecommunications followed by those under the Banks and Financial Institutions Division.
The government has nearly 27 per cent equity in the organisations under the ministry of post and telecommunications and 21.3 per cent with those under the Banks and Financial Institutions Division.
The government in some cases provide the organisations with equities. In some other cases, the government provides them with funds, but the funds later may turn into equities.
Jasimharoon@yahoo.com
