The UAE has offered to get hold of the minority shares in publicly listed government-owned companies and seats on the boards of firms against Pakistan’s request for the multi-billion dollar loans.
If the offer is accepted, it could prove to be a boost for the already starving government and may be able to mark a departure from the traditional lending and borrowing relationships between Islamabad and Abu Dhabi.
This development comes in between China’s rollover of $2 billion in Pakistani debt that will mature over the time from June 27th to July 23rd.
This would be a relief as the $2.3 billion has already been transferred to Pakistan. The UAE’s offer to buy 10–12% of the shares of Pakistan’s government-owned companies that are listed on the stock market would be through their Sovereign Wealth Funds.
“There’s a proposal from a friendly country to purchase Pakistani companies’ stock on a buy-back basis, which means buying secured loan-based security,” Miftah Ismail said while addressing the Express Tribune.
Sources have mentioned that the UAE is planning to acquire the stakes at clean offers. However, the Pakistani government wants to add provisions where it has the complete right to buy the stakes back whenever possible in the future.
The UAE made this offer in light of its $2 billion investment in Egyptian state-owned companies, which provided a safe haven for the Egyptian government acquired the Egyptian companies through the Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding, which is a sovereign wealth fund based in Dubai.
