A five-year plan for disinvesting stake in state-owned companies through initial public offerings (IPOs) is being proposed by the Sultanate’s stock market regulator, Capital Market Authority, to the Ministry of Finance, according to Abdullah bin Salim Al Salmi, executive president of the Capital Market Authority. Al Salmi said the number of state-owned companies to be privatised will be decided after carefully considering the present financial status of such companies. “Some companies may need restructuring, while some others require mergers before shares are offered to the public,” noted the CMA chief. However, the Ministry of Finance had said a couple of years earlier that the government planned to divest stakes in at least 11 state-owned companies to raise funds to reduce deficit and improve efficiency, according to an earlier report. As part of the move, the authorities have already started initial work for selling 49 per cent stake in the Muscat Electricity Distribution Company (MEDC). (Times of Oman)