No plans to sell Roosevelt Hotel, Senate panel told.

ISLAMABAD -- The government has no plans to sell Roosevelt Hotel in New York and is instead seeking a joint venture for a mixed-use development.

This was revealed by the Privatisation Commission in a briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Privatisation on Thursday. The commission said the terms of reference for the process have been sent to the aviation division and a decision was awaited.

The decision was pending due to a delay in the appointment of a financial adviser to key stakeholders.

The meeting was further told that according to the Privatisation Commission's regulations and Public Procurement Regulatory Authority rules, the commission will hire a financial adviser to recommend the best-suited transaction structure in consultation with relevant stakeholders.

The meeting of the Senate committee, chaired by Senator Shamim Afridi, also discussed the privatisation of SME Bank, Services International Hotel in Lahore and Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco).

Govt seeking joint venture for mixed-use development

On the privatisation of SME Bank, the meeting was informed that the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) has considered the privatisation ministry's summary and approved the recommendations in November 2022 to delist SME Bank from the privatisation programme.

The finance ministry and State Bank will take the matter further and a report will be presented to the CCoP in its next meeting.

The Senate committee recommended attaching SME Bank with...