Decision to offload 15pc PGCB shares soon

The government would soon take a decision to offload 15 per cent shares of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd. (PGCB) in the capital market in addition to existing 25 per cent, officials said.
"We are working on it. An appropriate decision will be taken shortly," a high official of the power division told the FE Monday.
He said the government recently formed a high-powered committee, which is expected to submit recommendations in this regard within a couple of weeks.
The power division had a meeting on offloading more shares of the company on February 16.
Listed on the Dhaka bourse in 2006, the share having a face value of Tk 10 each ranged between Tk 46 and Tk 69.70 each in the last 52 weeks, and closed at Tk 56.10 each on Monday.
The company's paid-up capital stood at Tk 4.61 billion and authorised capital is Tk 10 billion, while the total number of securities is 460,912,991.
The government owns 76.25 per cent stake in the company while institutional investors 18.45 per cent, foreign investors 0.75 per cent and the general public 4.55 per cent as on January 31, 2017, the DSE data shows.
Most of the state-owned enterprises (SoEs) could not make any significant progress in offloading shares despite a government directive for time-bound action, said a source.    
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had set a deadline some six years back in November 2010 to offload considerable stakes of the government in 27 SoEs as recommended by the ministry of finance (MoF).
Several deadlines set by finance minister AMA Muhith went unheeded.
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