KARACHI: Key ministers of the government, including Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb this week vowed to ensure efficiency and sustainable growth in Pakistan’s public entities as Islamabad moves to privatize state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that have accumulated losses worth billions over the years. 

Pakistan agreed to overhaul its public entities under a $3 billion financial bailout agreement it signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last year, a deal that helped it avert a sovereign debt default in 2023. The IMF has said Pakistan’s SOEs whose losses are burning a hole in government finances would need stronger governance. Pakistan is currently negotiating with the international lender for a larger, longer program for which it must implement an ambitious reforms agenda, including the privatization of debt-ridden SOEs.

Among the main entities Pakistan is pushing to privatize is its national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The government is putting on the block a stake ranging from 51 percent to 100 percent.

Aurangzeb chaired a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on State-Owned Enterprises on Monday which was attended by ministers of maritime affairs, economic affairs, housing and works, the governor of Pakistan’s central bank and other officials. The meeting was held to evaluate the performance of the country’s public entities and review the progress of the government’s privatization agenda. 

“The meeting concluded with a commitment to fostering transparency, efficiency, and sustainable growth within the State-Owned Enterprises, reflecting the government’s dedication to ensuring the optimal utilization of public resources,” the finance ministry said. 

Aurangzeb directed concerned ministries and divisions to submit proposals for the categorization of their respective public entities by May 20. The step is aimed at reviewing the rationale for retaining any commercial functions within the public sector, the ministry said. 

“The objective is to retain only the essential functions within the public sector & to assign the remaining functions to the private sector,” it said. “At the same time the entities which remain in public sector have to be more competitive, accountable, and responsive to the needs of citizens.”

The finance minister noted that there were gaps in the governance and financial management of some companies which needed to be addressed. He directed the vacancies on the Board of Directors (BoD) of some companies to be filled and for others to have their accounts audited. 

“The Chairman emphasized that continued losses & fiscal haemorrhage had to be stopped as a national priority,” the finance ministry said. “Therefore SOEs restructuring & privatization agenda needed to be expedited in order to improve the efficiency of these entities.”
 
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has assured the business community that the privatization process would be a transparent one and has warned the country’s bureaucracy that the government would not tolerate any delays in it. 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States (US) have discussed jointly countering Daesh, Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups to advance regional security and address transnational threats, the Pakistani foreign ministry said on Monday.

The consensus was reached during a recently held Pakistan-US Counterterrorism Dialogue in Washington DC, which was co-chaired by Pakistan’s Additional Foreign Secretary Syed Haider Shah and US State Department coordinator for counterterrorism, Elizabeth Richard.

The dialogue underscored the cooperation between Pakistan and the US in addressing challenges to regional and global security, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and Daesh-Khorasan, with discussions centered on the counterterrorism landscape in the region.

“Pakistan and the United States recognize that a partnership to counter Daesh-Khorasan (Daesh-Khorasan), TTP and other terrorist organizations will advance security in the region and serve as a model of bilateral and regional cooperation to address transnational terrorism threats,” the Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Both governments resolved to increase communication on these topics and continue collaboration to detect and deter violent extremism through whole-of-government approaches.”

The development came amid a renewed wave of violence in Pakistan’s western regions that border Afghanistan, where the TTP and Daesh are said to have their sanctuaries.

Islamabad has accused Kabul of not doing enough to tackle militant groups targeting Pakistan from across the border. Last week, a Pakistani military spokesman said a suicide bomb attack that killed five Chinese engineers in March was planned in neighboring Afghanistan, and that the bomber was also an Afghan national.

Kabul has denied allowing the use of its territory against any country and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue of Islamabad.

During the dialogue, Pakistani and US officials emphasized the importance of expanded counterterrorism collaboration and capacity-building, including exchanges of technical expertise and best practices, investigative and prosecutorial assistance, provision of border security infrastructure and training, and strengthening multilateral engagement such as in the United Nations and the Global Counterterrorism Forum, according to the Pakistani foreign ministry.

“The Counterterrorism Dialogue reaffirms Pakistan’s and the United States’ shared determination to contribute to both regional and global security and stability,” it added.