Egypt is preparing to sell off a stake in fixed-line telecom monopoly Telecom Egypt, Prime Minister Atef Obeid said in comments published Saturday.
"The government is ready to offer a portion of the Egyptian Company for Telecommunications after an evaluation report is completed," Obeid was quoted by al-Ahram as saying.
A cabinet meeting chaired by President Hosni Mubarak would soon finalize the sale, originally expected in January, he said, adding that the evaluation figure was likely to be around 25 billion pounds ($7.2 billion), said Reuters.
Economy Minister Youssef Boutros-Ghali said last Wednesday the government had appointed Morgan Stanley and Flemings to value four state insurance companies for sale.
According to Reuters, the electricity ministry has said it aims to sell seven regional electricity firms by mid-2001.
The government hopes the sales will help end a liquidity squeeze and revive the economy, after almost a year of intermittent pound EGP shortages, which drove up inter-bank rates, hampered economic activity and dampened the stock market.
The government last week unveiled a plan to repay up to 25 billion pounds of domestic debt in eight months and is also banking on increased revenue from oil and tourism - (Several Sources)
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