The State Capital Investment Corp., which manages shares for the government, announced it has sold its holdings in 66 companies for VND229.92 billion (US$13 million) in the first six months of the year.

Of the figure, holdings in 60 firms were sold entirely, said the government’s investment arm, known as SCIC.

SCIC plans to slash its shares in 272 companies this year.

In an effort to stop the freefall of the benchmark index, which had dropped 45 percent in 2008, the government ordered the SCIC to buy shares in March last year, according to Finance Minister and SCIC Chairman Vu Van Ninh.

In the first two quarters of 2009, SCIC made VND868.9 billion in pretax profits, equal to 58.78 percent of its forecast this year, the company announced without giving earlier figures for comparison. Its gross revenues were more than VND1 trillion, accounting for 42.76 percent of this year’s forecast.

Source: DTCK