Privatisation: cure or castration

How best to take advantage of this idea

Privatisation is coined as a solution to many economic woes facing Pakistan’s economy. It has been hailed as a solution to the woes facing PML-N’s government. The privatisation commission has even shortlisted 31 institutions to “sell”. On the face of it, the arguments appear to be sound and make sense. It’s pointed out that a government’s primary function is to run the state affairs and should facilitate the businesses instead of running them. The “white elephants” in the shape of public sector enterprises (PSE) are costing the national exchequer billions of rupees annually which can be saved and spent on public welfare.

However once we start to dig deeper the situation is not as glossy as it may appear at first. First of all a successful privatisation exercise has some pre-requisites like a conducive environment with investors’ confidence, a strong government able to enforce the agreements, proper selection of non-vital PSE’s and a fair process carried out in a transparent manner. Sans this, privatisation cannot turn around the state of PSE’s or the economy. Past experiences are a testament to this.

Once again the incumbent PML-N government is focused on privatisation but unfortunately is ignoring the vital pre-requisites.

One such example is the Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) which generated a profit of approximately PKR 91 billion in last fiscal year while providing the gas at 40 to 50% of the prices offered by private sector in international market. Another example is Pakistan State Oil (PSO) generating an after-tax net profit of approximately PKR 12,558,000,000 in the year ending on 30^th June, 2013, a 39% increase from the previous financial year. Privatising such institutions would not only lead to loss of billions to the exchequer but also an increase in the comparatively cheaper prices currently offered to the masses.

It has been reported that the incumbent government sent a letter to IMF claiming a consensus of all political parties and parliament to privatise the national institutions. This obviously points towards the pressure emanating from the terms of the IMF package accepted by Pakistan and explains the haste. This undue urgency leading to lack of planning should be avoided. The government needs to ensure it is not selling off profitable and strategically vital PSE’s in the name of privatisation for short-sighted capital injections at the cost of long-term stability and revenues. Furthermore institutions providing vital services to the masses should not be on the wish-list of the potential sell-offs either.

As for those entities generating losses, like PIA, we need a proper plan of action. One leading argument for privatisation is that since the private sector is driven by profit, the efficiency and performance of institutions is supposed to improve in private hands. Unfortunately the past record of privatisation in Pakistan does not support this argument. Be it PTCL or KESC, not only their profits but the standard of services too has fallen in private hands. Also it brings up an interesting question as to why the government cannot introduce checks and balances along with incentives to ensure a turnaround they expect from private entities. Moreover, in developed countries strict legislation has been introduced to ensure avoidance of the common pitfalls of privatisation, protecting the interests of all shareholders and safeguarding the continuation of service(s). Same needs to be done in Pakistan to address the issues already facing us from past public-private venture which effectively handed over whole PSE’s for a paltry minority stake in ownership.

Some economists supportive of the privatization point out the previous failed attempts at turnaround but conveniently ignore the major reason of undue interference, political appointments and misappropriation by government officials. The success stories of the last major successful turnaround of a loss-making steel mill into a profit generating venture are also conveniently swept under the carpet. They also choose to forget that if enterprises like PIA are privatized, which have the highest ratio of employees per aircraft of 500 compared to international standards of fewer than 150; it will still lead to layoffs and resulting backlash. Ideally a better option will be to establish an independent and empowered restructuring institution (RI) to overhaul PSE’s, which if handled properly will make the process less painful compared to a private venture while ensuring cost-effective quality services from a revenue-generating asset of the nation.

All that is required by the RI is to place competent professionals of utmost integrity at the top positions based solely on merit to run the PSE’s, introduction of a system of appropriate checks and balances, run by professionals whose life is driven by measuring performance against goals, spurring motivation and ensuring excellence via improved performances. If for some reasons privatisation is deemed mandatory then a hurried privatisation without a proper policy, appropriate selection of PSE’s and laws safeguarding the national interests as well as protecting the masses should be avoided as it will only lead to less efficiency by investors with conflicting interests, more unemployment, resulting lawlessness, inflation, loss of revenues and government bailouts.

The writer is a leading economist, a qualified chartered accountant and anti-money laundering expert with international exposure who is helping reshape businesses at Millennium Law Company. He can be reached on Twitter at: @OmerZaheerMeer, or [email protected].