ISLAMABAD: As the country is seeking to outsource its airport operations in line with an International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal, the government on Wednesday told National Assembly that it is all set to hold the final auction of the financially unviable sinking ship – the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on October 30.
Responding to a question raised by Sharmila Farooqi of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), a party which has always been against privatisation of the national airlines, parliamentary secretary for communications, Gul Asghar, said the final auction of PIA will be done on October 30.
The process was earlier scheduled for October 1, but the reports said that the bidding process was delayed due to low bidder interest and some other issues especially litigation matters, fleet ageing and civil aviation issues.
Privatisation of PIA: Plan faces slowing momentum on queries by bidders
Asghar said that the privatisation of PIA was a lengthy process conducted under the elaborate structure of privatisation headed by Minister for Privatisation Aleem Khan.
He said that the process had begun in February 2024, which would be finalised on October 30, adding all the issues with regarding the privatisation of the airlines have been completed.
He said that the process involved different institutions including the Board of Privatisation Commission headed chaired by Aleem Khan and Privatisation Commission Secretary Usman Bajwa.
“PIA assets have been parked separately as its operational assets have been separated, whereas, final auction will be held on October 30,” he added.
The six consortia that were pre-qualified to bid for a 60 per cent stake in PIA include Fly Jinnah Ltd, Air Blue Ltd, ArifHabib Corporation Ltd, a consortium led by YB Holdings (Private) Limited, a consortium led by Pak Ethanol and Blue World City.
Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Ali Pervaiz Malik informed the house that under the directions of the prime minister prioritising an increase in exports, no restriction has been imposed on the industries importing raw material post-International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme finalisation.
Ali Pervaiz Malik said the Ministry of Finance post-IMF Programme has not imposed any restriction on the raw material import, whereas, the government efforts for increasing exports were scaled up along with efforts to enhance competitiveness of businesses, access to finance being made available so that the exporters could meet working capital needs.
“The decline in inflation means that the price hike ratio has dropped as the commodities’ prices could not be raised at a faster pace. The inflation is the biggest tax for the common man that reduces its purchasing power capacity. The power sector prices are causing negative impacts on common masses,” he said.
He underlined that the PM taskforce was actively taking up this issue and efforts were underway, however, the power minister should be asked for a detailed work plan to reduce power prices by the Assembly.
Earlier, Parliamentary Secretary for Commerce Zulfiqar Ali Bhatti said under the National Tarriff Policy 2019, the government have rationalised 6,500 tariff lines out of the total 7,580 and reduced 2,198 tariff lines to zero.
He added that a Rs22 billion relief was given to the industry and traders and the government was organising trade expos to improve exports of the country.
The parliamentary secretary for planning WajihaQamar told the house that Greater Karachi Bulk Water Supply Scheme K-IV will be completed by next year. She mentioned that Rs30 billion, included in the PSDF 2024-25, have been allocated to the Ministry of Water Resources for the project.
Responding to a Calling Attention Notice, Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervaiz said that the government is taking serious steps to check tax fraud. He said apart from legislative measures, capacity building of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is being done in terms of both technology and human resource.
The house also passed the Legal Aid and Justice Authority Amendment Bill, 2024.
It was moved by Minister of State for Finance Ali Pervaiz.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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