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 offloads three passengers bound for Saudi Arabia, UAE over forged documents
- The passengers at Karachi airport were found carrying fake visas, a driver’s license and residency papers
- Pakistan has arrested over 1,700 human smugglers, reported a 47 percent drop in illegal immigration to Europe
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday said it offloaded three passengers at Karachi airport who were attempting to travel to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on forged documents.
The development is part of the continued crackdown undertaken by Pakistani authorities on illegal immigration and human smuggling. Pakistan reported a 47 percent drop in illegal immigration to Europe this year, with more than 1,700 human smugglers arrested.
The country intensified action against illegal migration in 2023 after hundreds of people, including its own nationals, lost their lives while trying to cross the Mediterranean to reach European shores in an overcrowded vessel that sank off the Greek coast.
“The passengers were identified as Aamir, Ali Hussain, and Ijaz,” the FIA spokesperson said in a statement.
“The passengers have been handed over to the FIA Anti-Human Trafficking Circle, Karachi, for further legal action.”
The FIA added that Aamir was attempting to travel to the UAE on a visit visa using a fake Ukrainian resident card he paid Rs1 million ($3,571) to obtain.
Hussain was traveling to Saudi Arabia on a work permit using a fake driving license he paid a huge sum of money for, it continued.
The agency added Ijaz was also traveling to Saudi Arabia with a fake Qatari visa on his passport for which he paid Rs300,000 ($1,071).
The issue of illegal immigration and its consequences have gained significant attention in Pakistan following the arrest of several Pakistani and foreign nationals at airports with forged documents in recent years.
In September, the FIA released a list of more than 100 of the country’s “most wanted” human smugglers and identified major trafficking hubs across the country’s most populous Punjab province and Islamabad.
Earlier in December, Pakistan announced it would roll out an Artificial Intelligence-based immigration screening system in Islamabad from January next year to detect forged travel documents and prevent illegal departures.
