Sit-ins held responsible for economic losses

The government has accused sit-in by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) of causing a delay in offloading Oil and Gas Development Company''s (OGDCL) shares in international and domestic market. Pakistan Economic Survey 2014-15 reveals that due to sit-ins by some political parties in August-October 2014, privatisation of OGDCL received a major setback as timeline for its transaction had to be extended - originally scheduled to be completed by September 2014.
OGDCL share price was trading at Rs 270 per share in September 2014. Extension in timeline together with falling oil prices resulted in a drop in OGDCL share price from Rs 270 to Rs 230 in November 2014 and, as a result, Privatisation Commission could not complete $800 million OGDCL offering. The budget document further reveals that, the government spent Rs 696 million to maintain law and order during long march of PTI and its alliance.