According to the Korean local media, a high-ranking unnamed sources at the Strategy and Finance Ministry said Monday, “It will be difficult to settle the privatization of KDB Financial Group before this administration’s term ends. There are only 50 branches of the financial group, which make it less attractive to bidders, and market conditions have aggravated (due to restructuring of savings banks)," quoted by Dong-A daily news.
President Lee Myung-bak had pledged the bank`s privatization when he was a presidential candidate, and the original plan for the work was schedueld to complete the process by 2012.
The state-run financial group is wholly owned by the government, with Korea Finance Corp., 90.3 percent and the ministry, 9.7 percent.
The privatization plan was shaken abruptly, however, as savings banks struggled to survive. Financial authorities put all their efforts to sell eight savings banks, including Samhwa Savings Bank.
“Since handling non-performing savings banks is the most urgent matter for financial authorities, virtually no progress has been seen in the privatization of KDB Financial Group,” said an official at Korea Finance Corp., quoted by the daily news report.
(아주경제 송지영 기자)
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