Saudi prince silent as time ticks away

Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Mohammad did not respond to the Privatisation Commission's notice for him to deposit by yesterday the entire amount agreed on for buying Rupali Bank.
The commission would soon sit to decide the next course of action, said sources.
Contacted, its Chairman M Abu Solaiman Chowdhury and other high officials, however, declined to comment on the matter while Finance and Commerce Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said he does not know anything about the developments in this regard.
The notice was served on December 10 asking Bandar Bin Mohammad Abdul Rahman Al Saud to deposit $458 million within December 26 as per the rules on takeover of the state-owned bank.
It read, "The Privatisation Commission will take a unilateral decision to discontinue the sale process if the prince fails to deposit the entire amount within the deadline."
Lately, it emerged that the Saudi Arabian prince has offered an amount much lower than what he had agreed to pay for the state's 93 percent stake in the bank. His new offer is just $185 million.
The latest proposition came in a letter to army chief Gen Moeen U Ahmed, saying Bandar Bin Mohammad wants to take over the bank shortly under a sales/purchase agreement and make the payment before the end of December.
According to two bids, the government's 93.26 percent shares in the bank were to be sold for over $458 million while the rest were to remain as public issues.
The government decided to privatise Rupali Bank as part of its programme of financial reforms and banking sector modernisation.
Bids from seven organisations from home and abroad stood up to scrutiny of the Privatisation Commission.
After December 26, Bandar Bin Mohammed will be liable to a forfeiture of $100,000 that has been deposited with the Commission as security money, said sources involved in the bidding process.