KARACHI: Workers protested against the possible privatisation of the Pakistan Steel Mills in Karachi on Monday and blocked the National Highway.
The employees ended their symbolic protest after one hour and restored the track of the highway that had been blocked for traffic.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led federal government has decided to reorganize the list of national institutions for privatization immediately after May 10 following consultation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The expanded list will then be forwarded to the cabinet for approval.
It has further been learnt that the annual deficit of the public sector enterprises (PSEs) has surged from Rs93 billion to Rs453 billion. Out of 193 national institutions that have been suffering losses; 43 will be closed, 48 will be privatized in the first phase, and the rest will either be run through a public-private partnership or will be privatized in three years to give relief to the national exchequer.
