No such thing as strategic state-owned enterprises: Finance Minister

As he emphasised the necessity of privatisation, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb declared on Sunday that there was “no such thing” as key state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Two days prior, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar had said that the government will restrict its operations to key and vital state-owned enterprises (SOEs) within its purview, with a reduction in their number from 40 following examination. He had made these statements during a pre-budget meeting in Lahore.
Dar declared that the privatisation of loss-making SOEs would be a top priority when presiding over the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) meeting, which the finance minister attended.
The meeting observed that forty state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were currently classified as strategic or critical; however, the relevant ministries would provide the Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (CCoSOE) with their specifics.