Pakistan appears to be set to sell off Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), as a single-agenda meeting of the Privatisation Commission board is due to hold talks over the state-owned airline's sale on Friday, local media has reported.
PIA has emerged as the most likely asset to be privatised because it habitually loses billions of rupees every year, Pakistan daily Dawn reported citing official sources.
"Privatising PIA is considered essential to removing these losses and improving its operational efficiency."
According to Pakistan's Privatisation Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad the main objective is to attract "private investment through the privatisation process, thereby unlocking government funds for deployment in vital sectors".
During a meeting with World Bank Resident Director Najy Benhassine, the report disclosed that Fawad had discussed PIA's privatisation with particular focus on "the divestment of PIA and other state-owned entities to optimise the performance of ex-Wapda [the Pakistan Water & Power Development Authority] distribution companies".
PIA is Pakistan's flag carrier and is under the administrative control of the country's Aviation Secretary, Shoukat Ali. Its central hub is Jinnah International Airport in the port city of Karachi.