With the exception of vital state-owned businesses, all other businesses—profitable or not—will be privatized, the prime minister declared while presiding over a review meeting in Islamabad on issues pertaining to the Ministry of Privatization and the Privatization Commission.
A plan for the Privatization Program 2024–2029 was provided during the conference by the Privatization Commission and the Privatization Ministry.
According to the prime minister, the government’s role was to assist investors; it had no say in how the enterprises were run. In his opinion, the government could better serve the populace by using the money saved by the privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs).
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The premier declared, “The role of government is to ensure an environment that is friendly to business and investment, not to conduct business.”
Additionally, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave all federal ministries instructions to work with the Privatization Commission and take the appropriate steps in this regard.
He gave the order to live broadcast the privatization of Pakistan International Airlines Company Limited (PIA), including the bidding process and other crucial stages. There will be live broadcasts of the privatization of other institutions as well.
The status of the privatization of state-owned businesses was reported to the conference. It was advised that the PIA privatization pre-qualification process will be finished by the end of this month.
The gathering was informed that the 2024–2029 privatization agenda includes the privatization of power distribution firms.
It was advised that state-owned businesses experiencing financial difficulties would be sold off first, and that a commission dedicated to privatization would soon be assembling a pre-screened group of specialists to expedite the process.
Federal ministers Dr. Musaddik Malik, Ahad Khan Cheema, Jam Kamal Khan, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Awais Ahmed Leghari, Abdul Aleem Khan, and PM’s Coordinator Rana Ehsan Afzal were present at the meeting.
All relevant ministries and divisions were instructed by Federal Minister of Finance Muhammad Aurangzeb to submit ideas by May 20 for the classification of their respective State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs). This directive was given just one day earlier.
According to a news statement from the finance ministry, the categorization is a component of a thorough examination of the justification for keeping commercial services inside the public sector.
The ongoing work of the Finance Division’s Central Monitoring Unit on compiling the Federal SOE Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year 2023 was presented. The DG CMU reported to the meeting that all commercial entities’ data had been collected and obtained, and that analysis work was presently under progress.
Highlights of SOE performance throughout the reporting period were presented to the committee. The minister ordered that the positions on the BODs should be filled promptly, noting that there were several holes in the financial management and control of businesses.
Last Friday, the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCOP) approved 24 state-owned enterprises for the privatisation programme, directing the privatisation ministry to deliberate the phasing of each entity in consultation with the respective ministries.