SOE Act and MoF reporting: CCoSOEs grants SPD entities full exemptions
A meeting of CCoSOEs was held on Tuesday at the Finance Division under the chairmanship of Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb.
The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Science and Technology Khalid Hussain Magsi, as well as secretaries and senior officials from the relevant ministries, divisions, and organisations.
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The committee considered and approved a proposal from the SPD for the exclusion of SPD entities from the consolidated reporting requirements of the Ministry of Finance and granted them complete exemption from the State-Owned Enterprises Act and Policy of 2023, in recognition of the sensitive and security-related nature of their operations.
The committee considered and approved a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for the appointment of independent directors to the Boards of Pakistan Television Corporation (PTVC) and Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC).
Following a rigorous shortlisting process, six independent directors were approved for each of the two boards.
For the PTVC Board, the approved names included Ishtiaq Baig, Yasir S Qureshi, Dr. Asghar Nadeem Syed, Tasneem Rehman, Leyla Zuberi, and Khalid Mehmood Khan.
For the PBC Board, the selected directors included Sadia Khan, Jehangir Khan, Sadiqa Sultan, Nasira Azim Khan, Khan Bibi, and Nadeem Haider Kiyani.
Finance Division stated that during the first six months of fiscal year 2025, PBC's financial performance revealed a mixed picture when benchmarked against its business plan.
Revenue collections have improved compared to the previous period; however, significant shortfalls are evident against the targets.
For instance, while operational adjustments in sales processes and station-specific revenue targets were designed to drive rapid growth, the actual collections remain below the anticipated pace.
The actual performance indicates that despite initiating measures for enhanced advertising sales and property leasing, there is a notable backlog in receivables and cash collections.
This under-performance is particularly critical in high-potential segments such as air-time advertisement revenues, where the collections lag the targeted monthly milestones - an area that threatens to undermine the expected annual revenue inflows.
The persistent outstanding balances suggest that the execution in revenue mobilisation is not on track with the strategised timelines, raising concerns about the overall efficacy of the commercial drive set forth by the business plan.
The committee also deliberated on a proposal from the Ministry of Industries and Production regarding the constitution of the Board of Directors of Agro Food Processing Facilities.
The committee approved the nomination of four independent directors: Hasnain Nawaz Khan, Shahid Mehmood Sahu, Ahsan Mustafa Bajwa, and Ghulam Jaffar Junejo. In addition, three ex-officio members will serve on the board. The committee further endorsed the proposal to appoint Hasnain Nawaz Khan as the chairman of the board.
The cabinet body reviewed and approved, with directions for further refinement, the Procurement Policy of Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC) as presented by the Ministry of Maritime Affairs. It was appreciated that the PNSC is the first state-owned enterprise to formulate and adopt a comprehensive procurement policy tailored to its operational needs.
The committee also approved a summary from the Ministry of National Food Security and Research for accepting the resignation of the Vice President of the Pakistan Central Cotton Committee (PCCC), effective March 25, 2025, on personal grounds. The official had been appointed to the position by the Federal Cabinet in May 2024.
Another item approved by the committee related to the appointment of directors and members to the Board of the National Disaster Risk Management Fund (NDRMF), as proposed by the Ministry of Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives.
During the meeting, the committee expressed concern over the failure of certain SOEs to complete their financial audits for several years.
Finance Division in its latest report noted that audit committees in most SOEs are either non-functional or symbolic, lacking the technical competence to challenge management or oversee financial integrity.
It directed the concerned entities to initiate their audit processes without further delay and instructed the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to examine such cases and present its findings and recommendations to the CCoSOEs in due course.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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