- PIA must go by fifteenth of that month
The federal privatisation minister has again turned into a man with a mission. An official one this time, as his pre-ministerial existence revolved around defending the First Family while denouncing its obdurate foes, Imran Khan being his particular target in the ‘drop dead’ category. Now he has brought that misplaced missionary zeal to his portfolio, and leading white elephant, Pakistan International Airlines, is on his hit list for immediate sell off, even ‘tomorrow morning. If you have the money, come and buy it’ to put it in his own optimistic words. PIA’s swift disposal has become the panacea for all the country’s economic woes and of its people, for travellers, for the national exchequer, apart from preventing Pakistan, in effect, becoming an Asian Tiger and competing with Singapore! In 2013, the PML-N government intended to privatise 68 State-Owned Entities, including PIA, with annual losses of over Rs600 billion, but squandered the last four years. Decisive action is not its forte.
If correct timing and position of strength were essential criteria for pulling off a favourable financial deal, the minister’s PIA privatisation passion could not have happened at a worse scheduling, with national elections likely in August, apex court judgments in Panama cases due, and street turmoil looming on the national landscape. Political instability is the opium of international investors.
PIA ‘s former foreign CEO has decamped to his native Germany after taking 10 days leave, estimated monthly losses are estimated at $30 million and the total deficit till March 2017, Rs325 billion, a close competitor of the notorious energy sector ‘circular debt, and depressing testimony of incompetence, pervasive corruption, mismanagement and dead weight of political appointees. The minister sweetened the ‘downsising’ pill for apprehensive employees in selling only ‘core business’ of management and flight operations, while retaining the rest in government hands, but even that would entail legislation reversing the PIAC 2016 Conversion Act 2016 to allow management and ownership transfer. A similar privatisation attempt in 2016 under IMF diktat ended in an embarrassing government back down. The PPP has vowed to resist privatisation and so would the trade unions. This ‘hasty baby’ seems foredoomed to failure. Again.
