The government yesterday blamed opposition street protests for a slump in the share price of a state-owned oil company, which forced a part sell-off to be shelved.
The government decided to hold off on auctioning 10 percent of shares in the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL), which manages Pakistan’s sizeable oil and gas reserves.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri led thousands of supporters in weeks of protests outside parliament, pressing for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over alleged election rigging.
The rallies, which began in August, failed to force Sharif from power but temporarily destabilised the government.
“Due to sit-ins the share price of OGDCL fell from 274 rupees ($2.60) to 225 rupees ($2.20) and we do not want to sell so low,” Finance Minister Ishaq Dar told a press conference.
“Had there been no sit-in and share price had remained the same, the government would have received $600 million, $200 million domestically,” Dar said, noting that a recent slump in international oil prices had also contributed to the lukewarm response.
