- IMF says privatisation meets key $7bn EFF dedication.
- Arif Habib-led consortium buys 75% stake for Rs135bn.
- SOE losses hit Rs122.9bn in FY2024-25, cupboard knowledge reveals.
KARACHI: The Worldwide Financial Fund (IMF) has welcomed the privatisation of Pakistan Worldwide Airways (PIA), calling the sale a landmark step in Pakistan’s push to scale back state involvement in business sectors, The Information reported, citing Arab Information.
In a press release offered to Arab Information on Saturday, Mahir Binici, the IMF’s resident consultant in Pakistan, mentioned the switch of the nationwide service to non-public possession fulfils a major dedication underneath the $7 billion Prolonged Fund Facility (EFF).
Binici described the divestment as a milestone within the authorities’ reform agenda aimed toward attracting non-public funding to assist long-term financial progress.
The endorsement follows the landmark sale of a 75% stake in PIA to a consortium led by the Arif Habib Group. The deal, valued at Rs135 billion ($486 million), concluded final month following a aggressive bidding course of.
This second try at privatisation succeeded the place a earlier effort a yr in the past failed, largely on account of improved operational situations — together with the latest lifting of EU and UK flight bans that was imposed after the airline’s lethal Airbus A320 crash in Karachi in 2020 that killed 97 folks — which considerably enhanced the airline’s market worth and attraction to non-public traders.
The IMF’s supportive remarks come as latest authorities knowledge highlights the mounting monetary pressure attributable to underperforming state entities. Based on the Cupboard Committee on State-Owned Enterprises, Pakistan’s SOEs recorded a staggering web lack of Rs122.9 billion ($442 million) in the course of the 2024-25 fiscal yr. This determine represents a virtually 300% improve from the Rs30.6 billion web loss reported within the earlier yr.
Whereas the privatisation course of stays a politically delicate problem — drawing criticism over potential job losses — supporters and worldwide lenders argue that non-public sector administration is important for enhancing effectivity and repair supply, Arab Information reported.
