The government has expressed its commitment to privatise loss-incurring state assets time and again. This commitment is not only reiterated to swing public opinion in the government’s favour, but to fulfil one of the stipulations of the $6.2 billion tranche granted to Pakistan by the IMF in 2013. The government’s certainty of being able to at least partially complete the process is reflected in its decision to include an expected amount of Rs 50 billion of revenue from the sale in the 2015-16 budget. However, with the protests by employees of PIA following the news of impending privatisation, and no effort made to privatise any of the other state entities, a loss of 47.5 billon is expected. National Power Construction Corporation (NPCC) was the only state entity that was privatised, with a price tag of Rs 2.5 billion.
“Our resolve is very clear; we will do everything and anything possible to bring structural changes in these entities... with better service delivery and move towards making them profitable.”
–Ishaq Dar on PIA privatisation
– February 2016.