Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar chaired an inter-ministerial meeting to review progress on Pakistan’s privatization agenda, according to the state-run APP News Agency.
Officials briefed the committee on ongoing steps and procedures related to the privatization of major public sector entities, including Pakistan International Airlines.
Dar directed the Ministry of Privatization and the Privatization Commission to expedite the privatization process and instructed relevant ministries to extend full support. The goal, he said, is to place these entities on a sustainable and profitable trajectory.
The meeting was attended by the adviser to the prime minister on privatization, SAPM Tariq Bajwa, NC SIFC, the privatization secretary and officials from concerned ministries.
Earlier this month, Pakistan’s privatization chief Muhammad Ali said the government aims to privatize the national flag carrier by October this year.
Pakistan has been working to sell the debt-laden PIA to raise funds and reform state-owned enterprises under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund program secured last year.
The IMF has urged Pakistan to privatize loss-making state-owned enterprises as the country struggles with a high fiscal deficit and a significant external financing gap.
According to the IMF, Pakistan’s SOEs hold sizable assets compared with most Middle East countries, totaling about 44 percent of GDP in 2019. But their share of national employment is relatively low, and the Fund estimates nearly half of the enterprises operated at a loss that same year.
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