In this context, it is relevant to note that in 2018-19 when Asad Umar headed the Finance Ministry, privatisation proceeds were zero. Had Umar continued to head the Ministry of Finance one may have been tempted to conclude that the Khan administration is not entirely sold on the policy of privatisation; however, this is no longer the perception as his replacement - Dr Hafeez Sheikh, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance - has shown a distinct partiality towards privatisation during his previous stints in the cabinet, first as the privatisation minister (2003-06) and later as the finance minister (18 March 2010 to 19 February 2013). Additionally, Dr Hafeez Sheikh is on record as having stated last year that the shortfall in meeting the unrealistic tax revenue target agreed with the International Monetary Fund will be met through privatisation proceeds (while chairing the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation meetings he has persistently urged fast tracking the process) as well as from higher than budgeted State Bank of Pakistan profits (though SBP profits would be impacted after the announcement by the SBP to subsidise a further 200 billion rupees to exporters under the Long Term Finance Facility as well as export refinance scheme).

The then finance minister, Ishaq Dar, in the first letter of Intent submitted by the PML-N administration to the IMF in 2013 committed to the following: "We are working on a time-bound strategy for 65 PSEs approved for privatisation in the Council of Common Interest to facilitate decisions to either privatise firms, restructure those with prospects of profitability but which the government wishes to retain in the public sector, or close non-viable firms...the strategy for 30 firms will be announced by end September 2013 (structural benchmark) with plans for the remainder to be completed by end-December 2013...we have already begun the process of hiring professional chief executives and board members for those enterprises with a corporate structure in line with the corporate governance rules. We are developing medium-term action plans to restructure Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Steel Mills and Pakistan Railways." The sale of the two RLNG plants was also on the agenda of the PML-N government.

None of these ambitious targets was met and one would hope that the Khan administration takes cognizance of Dar's acknowledgement in the twelfth letter of intent he submitted to the IMF that: "owing to labour tensions, political opposition, we revised our strategy for PSEs in early 2016 and amended the timeline and mode of the planned divestment transactions including PIA, PSM and Discos".

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz undertook an empirical study and concluded that "privatisation has deservedly had its critics, so have SOEs. Many have not been run efficiently and many have created losses that have been a burden on the state-money that could have been used for education or to pursue other developmental objectives...(but) the privatisation process has been marked by enormous abuses: in many countries a few individuals managed to grab hold of previously state-owned resources for a pittance and become millionaires - or billionaires". Needless to add, it is these very rich who can possibly engage in the privatisation process in Pakistan as well. And it has been none other than the Prime Minister himself who has repeatedly launched a harangue against the mafias operating in several sectors, including in wheat and sugar subsectors, and pledged to break their hold.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020