ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top investment body said on Wednesday it had “resolved with consensus” to fast-track the privatization of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to help reduce losses to the national exchequer.
Pakistan’s caretaker administration had earmarked 10 cash-bleeding SOEs for privatization on Sept. 21. The decision to privatize these enterprises, which includes Pakistan International Airlines, the national flag carrier, is part of fiscal discipline plans agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under a $3 billion bailout program signed earlier this year.
On Wednesday, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar chaired the sixth apex committee meeting of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), a hybrid civil-military government body Pakistan constituted in June to attract foreign investment in key economic sectors, particularly from Gulf nations.
During its meeting, the SIFC discussed macro-economic issues affecting investment climate in the country, “including inordinate delays in restructuring/ privatization of cash bleeding State Owned Enterprises (SOEs),” the SIFC said.
As of 2020, the accumulated losses for SOEs amounted to 500 billion rupees ($1.74 billion), the finance ministry said last month.
“The committee also resolved with consensus on fast-tracking the privatization process and hence, in the larger interest of the country, reduce recurring losses to the national exchequer,” a statement from the PM office after the SIFC meeting said.
The apex committee also expressed satisfaction over Pakistan’s ongoing negotiations with foreign and domestic investors for the timely realization of various investment prospects, it said.
Pakistan is also discussing outsourcing operations of several of its state-owned assets to outside companies.
In March, Islamabad kicked off the 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.
Pakistan’s top investment body resolves to fast-track privatization of loss-making entities
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Pakistan’s top investment body resolves to fast-track privatization of loss-making entities
- PM Kakar chairs sixth apex committee meeting of Special Investment Facilitation Council
- Committee reviews various initiatives spearheaded by SIFC, hurdles for investment climate
Pakistan launches final nationwide polio drive for 2025 amid rise in global cases
- Global polio tracking data shows Pakistan accounted for 30 of the world’s 39 cases in 2025, with remainder in Afghanistan
- Health authorities urge parents to cooperate with vaccination teams and ensure all children under five receive polio drops
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will launch its final nationwide polio vaccination campaign for 2025 from tomorrow, aiming to immunize more than 45 million children under the age of five, health authorities said on Sunday, as the country remains at the center of global efforts to eradicate the disease.
Global polio tracking data shows that 30 of the 39 confirmed wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases worldwide 2025 were reported in Pakistan, with the remainder in neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistan recorded 74 polio cases in 2024, a sharp increase from six cases in 2023 and just one case in 2021, highlighting the volatility of eradication efforts in a country where misinformation, vaccine hesitancy and security issues have repeatedly disrupted progress.
“The final national polio campaign of 2025 will formally begin across the country from tomorrow,” Pakistan’s National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) said in a statement.
“During the campaign, polio drops will be administered to more than 45 million children nationwide,” it said, adding that the seven-day drive would run from Dec. 15 to Dec. 21.
The NEOC said more than 400,000 male and female polio workers would take part in the campaign, with vaccination targets including over 23 million children in Punjab, 10.6 million in Sindh, 7.2 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 2.6 million in Balochistan and smaller numbers in Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
“Protecting children from polio is a shared national responsibility,” the NEOC said. “Parents must fully cooperate with polio workers to secure the future of the nation.”
It urged families to ensure that all children under five years of age receive the required two drops of the vaccine during the campaign.
Pakistan has drastically reduced polio prevalence since the 1990s, when annual cases exceeded 20,000.
By 2018, the number had fallen to eight. But health authorities warn that without consistent access to children — particularly in high-risk and underserved regions — eradication will remain out of reach.
Violence has also hampered the program. Polio teams and their security escorts have frequently come under attack from militants in parts of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan.
Officials say continued security threats, along with natural disasters such as recent flooding, remain major obstacles to reaching every child.
