ISLAMABAD – Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has formally given go-ahead to the privatisation of loss-making entities – Pakistan Steel Mills and Pakistan International Airlines – on the pretext of ‘restructuring’.
The premier passed these directions while heading a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) at the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday.
The decision came after Privatisation Minister Daniyal Aziz, in January revealed that the incumbent government of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) will try to privatise its national airline before general elections due this year.
In the recent wave of privatization, the government has also expedited the process for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), an aviation regulator that contributes up to Rs60 billion to the national kitty annually
The prime minister office issued a press release stating the meeting discussed issues related to PIA and PSM.
“After a detailed presentation on PIA and the discussion that followed, the CCoP gave the go-ahead to the proposal for initiating the restructuring process in PIA,” the press release said.
“It was decided during the meeting to segregate the core and non-core functions of the organisation.”
Daniyal Aziz gave a detailed presentation on various issues, including the financial challenges, faced by the two organizations and possible way forward for addressing those issues on a permanent basis.
The Prime Minister in his remarks observed that past mismanagement and neglect of the two important organizations had not only resulted in the creation of huge financial liability, on annual basis, for the government but also caused great difficulties for the employees of the organizations.
After a detailed presentation on PIAC and the discussion that followed, the CCoP gave a go-ahead to the proposal for initiating restructuring process in PIACL. It was decided during the meeting to segregate core and non-core functions of the organization.
The meeting discussed in detail various administrative, financial and employees related issues of Pakistan Steel Mills. A proposal for PSMC entering into a ‘concession’ agreement with investors, on the revenue sharing basis, also came under discussion.
The Prime Minister directed that all options should be explored and a comprehensive plan should also be worked out for addressing employees related issues.
