New Delhi, June 22: The central board of trustees of the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) is likely to appoint a leading consultant for analysing its investments, including in Industrial Finance Corporation of India, which has asked for rollover in high interest bonds issued by it. "We are in the process (appointing a consultant) and in talks with quite a few. The list will be short listed and final decision will be taken soon," EPFO sources told.
It is understood that EPFO had talks with some of the leading international consultants including Pricewaterhouse Coopers, KPMG and Ernst and Young.
The consultants to be appointed would be entrusted with the job of studying the investment pattern of EPFO including that in the IFCI, especially considering that the financial institution wanted rollover in interest rate on its non-SLR bonds to nine per cent from the 13 per cent when issued.
IFCI chairman V P Singh had recently given a presentation to EPFO explaining the need for a rollover, considering that it was in the financial restructuring mode.
Asked to what extent there would be a rollover, the sources said it would depend on the study report of consultants, who would have to take various parameters into account and submit the report to CBT's finance and investment sub-committee.
Considering that as much as over Rs 1,000 crore had been locked up in IFCI's case, the CBT sources indicated it was not in favour of "a drastic" rollover (about four per cent) as put forth by IFCI.
Bureau Report