KARACHI: Pakistan’s Privatization Commission has cleared a key procedural step in the sale of its majority stake in the First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) to a United Arab Emirates (UAE) entity, recommending a reference price to the federal cabinet for approval, the finance ministry said on Friday.
The move comes as Islamabad pushes ahead with long-delayed asset sales under its broader economic reform and fiscal stabilization agenda.
Established in 1989, the FWBL was conceived as a development-oriented financial institution to promote women’s economic participation and financial inclusion.
It was set up to address the limited access women had to formal banking channels and to provide them with tailored credit, savings and entrepreneurship services.
“The Privatization Commission (PC) Board, in its 240th meeting held under the chairmanship of Mr. Muhammad Ali, Chairman, Privatization Commission, has recommended a Reference Price for the privatization of First Women Bank Limited (FWBL) to the Cabinet Committee on Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions (CCoIGCT),” the statement said.
