State-owned companies selected to make initial public offerings (IPOs) of their shares under the second phase of the state’s privatisation programme will move forward with transactions starting in September as scheduled, Public Enterprises Minister Hisham Tawfik told Enterprise in the weekend. The government is committed to hold its first IPO under the programme in September, even if there is turbulence in the market, he added. The statement marks a shift in the government’s tone about how global markets could impact the programme. The Ministry had planned to IPO four or five state companies at a rate of about one per month starting from September.