KARACHI: Three out of four parties from China that qualified to potentially acquire Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) are no longer interested in the transaction, Pakistan’s caretaker privatization minister said on Thursday.
Pakistan’s caretaker government moved on Thursday to improve governance at state-owned companies and earmarked 10 for privatization or turnaround efforts, as it strives to deliver reforms under a $3 billion International Monetary Fund bailout.
Under the IMF loan deal, critical in averting a sovereign debt default, state-owned entities (SOEs) whose losses are burning a hole in government finances will need stronger governance.
As of 2020, the accumulated losses for SOEs amounted to 500 billion rupees ($1.74 billion).
“We are now confronted with a single bidder situation for Pakistan Steel Mills,” Pakistan’s caretaker privitization minister, Fawad Hasan Fawad. said on Thursday.
He said that prior to COVID-19, there were four companies that were interested and qualified to bid for Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), but three of them have backed out for a variety of reasons including global demand for steel.
Fawad added that the caretaker government was in talks with the financial planner appointed for the transaction; and that only PSM’s operational assets were up for sale.
Pakistan has also been discussing outsourcing operations of several of its state-owned assets to outside companies.
In March, it kicked off outsourcing of operations and land assets at three major airports to be run under a public private partnership, a move to generate foreign exchange reserves for its ailing economy.
The government has budgeted only about 15 billion Pakistani rupees ($52.42 million) in receipts from a stalled privatization process in its budget for the fiscal year 2024.
Caretaker Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar told reporters under the government’s draft policy on SOEs, the appointment of independent directors will be through a nomination process, adding that no ministry would be able to issue directives to SOEs in order to improve governance.
($1 = 286.9500 Pakistani rupees)
Only one bidder left for Pakistan Steel Mills — privatization minister
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Only one bidder left for Pakistan Steel Mills — privatization minister
- Pakistan’s caretaker government has earmarked 10 state-owned companies for privatization or turnaround efforts
- As of 2020, accumulated losses for state-owned entities amounted to $1.74 billion, caretaker finance minister says
Pakistan detains five men deported from Sharjah for using fake UK visas
- The group was taken into custody at Lahore airport and handed to the Anti-Human Smuggling Circle
- FIA says the five men obtained forged UK visas through agents after traveling to Malaysia this year
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani authorities detained five citizens at Lahore airport after they were deported from Sharjah for attempting to travel to the United Kingdom on forged British visas, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said on Saturday.
The five men had initially traveled from Lahore to Malaysia earlier this year on visit visas, the agency said.
After their stay in Malaysia, it added, they allegedly tried to fly onward to the UK from Sharjah using counterfeit documents obtained through agents.
“Five Pakistani passengers were deported from Sharjah for possessing fake British visas,” the FIA said in its statement. “Upon arrival at Lahore airport, the deported passengers were taken into custody.”
Pakistan has tightened its crackdown on illegal immigration and human smuggling in recent years after a series of deadly boat tragedies involving its citizens attempting to reach Europe.
In July, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the government was targeting organized criminal networks and urging the public to use safe and legal pathways for overseas employment.
He said the state was expanding job opportunities at home and abroad but warned that irregular migration routes were dangerous and violated national and international law.
The FIA said all five men had been transferred to the Anti-Human Smuggling Circle in Lahore for further investigation.
According to its statement, the forged travel documents were acquired with the assistance of intermediaries, leading authorities in the United Arab Emirates to deny them entry and deport them to Pakistan.
The FIA said the inquiry into the visa fraud and the agents involved was ongoing.
