Nishat Group Chairman Mian Muhammad Mansha hits the gong to mark the listing of Adamjee Life Assurance on the PSX on Monday.
Nishat Group Chairman Mian Muhammad Mansha hits the gong to mark the listing of Adamjee Life Assurance on the PSX on Monday.

KARACHI: Business tycoon Mian Muhammad Mansha urged the government on Monday to hold a fire sale of state-owned entities (SOEs), especially in the banking and power sectors.

Speaking at a gong-ringing ceremony for the listing of Adamjee Life Assurance — a company of Mr Mansha-led Nishat Group — the business magnate called the losses suffered by the taxpayer-funded SOEs “unjustifiable”.

“We should immediately privatise NBP,” he said while referring to the government-owned National Bank of Pakistan. He highlighted NBP’s regulatory troubles in Bangladesh and the United States, which led to heavy fines, as grounds for its quick privatisation.

Mr Mansha rhetorically asked why private banks never faced such penalties overseas, failing to recall that poor compliance led two of the largest Pakistani banks from the private sector to wind up their New York operations in recent years.

“We’re in the middle of a transition in this country. It’s the first time I’ve realised that people think they need change. This is universal. Wherever you go, whichever region it is, whichever party it is, it is now getting into our heads that we need to put our house in order,” he said, reiterating his long-held demand for privatising electricity generation and distribution firms.

In a recent speech at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr Mansha had vociferously called for normalising trade relations with India. “I thought (the speech) was going to be very controversial. But it did not turn out to be controversial at all,” he said, adding that the two countries can continue to have differences while maintaining bilateral trade.

After acquiring the insurance business, Mr Mansha said, he refused to remove the “Adamjee” name from the company out of respect for the family’s contribution to the country since Partition. The Mansha Group took over the non-life insurance provider back in 2004 in what was dubbed as the first hostile takeover in the country’s history. “I wanted the Adamjee name to continue,” he said.

Earlier, Mr Mansha hit the gong to mark the listing of Adamjee Life Assurance, which is one of the country’s 10 life insurance companies.

Published in Dawn, March 8th, 2022

Follow Dawn Business on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and across the world.

Opinion

Editorial

Smog hazard
Updated 05 Nov, 2024

Smog hazard

The catastrophe unfolding in Lahore is a product of authorities’ repeated failure to recognise environmental impact of rapid urbanisation.
Monetary policy
05 Nov, 2024

Monetary policy

IN an aggressive move, the State Bank on Monday reduced its key policy rate by a hefty 250bps to 15pc. This is the...
Cultural power
05 Nov, 2024

Cultural power

AS vital modes of communication, art and culture have the power to overcome social and international barriers....
Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.