Former interim minister for privatisation Fawad Hassan Fawad on Sunday expressed surprise over the cabinet’s approval to initiate the privatisation process of Pakistan International Airlines with a sole bidder.
“What was the need for bidding if there was only a sole bidder, who does not have an aviation background? This process harmed the entire privatisation effort,” said the former minister speaking on the Geo News programme Jirga.
The federal government’s latest attempt to privatise its struggling national airline fell through after the sole bidder, Blue World City, offered just Rs10 billion for a 60% stake in PIA, far below the minimum asking price of Rs85 billion, and flatly refused further negotiations.
Following approval from the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation, the final auction of the loss-making PIA was held on October 30.
This bid failure marks Pakistan’s second attempt in a decade to divest the national flag carrier, with a similar effort ending prematurely in 2015, reported The News.
During the talk show, Fawad said that a “lack of decision-making” was the reason behind the failure to attract potential bidders for PIA.
“The privatisation process can’t be completed until you make the right decision at the right time.”
Highlighting his achievements, the former minister added, “For the first time in [Pakistan’s] history, we initiated the privatisation of PIA. There was no meaningful work in this regard before September 2023.”
Fawad said that during the initial four weeks, he realised the aviation division was not serious about the privatisation of PIA. “Hence, I took direct financial control of PIA,” he added.
“We completed the restructuring of PIA,” he said, noting that he reprofiled PIA’s Rs281 billion debt borrowed from local and international banks, capping it at 12% after negotiations. “We saved Rs35 billion per annum due to the renegotiation,” he added.
