ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif instructed authorities to present the final implementation schedule of the privatization of Pakistan’s national flag carrier this week, warning officials he would not tolerate “laziness” or “carelessness” in this regard as the South Asian country moves to privatize its loss-making enterprise. 

Pakistan, eager to avoid a macroeconomic crisis, agreed in June 2023 to overhaul loss-making state-owned enterprises under a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in exchange for a $3 billion bailout program. The government decided to privatize PIA weeks after signing the IMF agreement.

Pakistan’s caretaker administration, which governed the country from August 2023 to February 2024, was empowered by the outgoing parliament to take any steps needed to meet the budgetary targets agreed with the IMF. However, Pakistan’s election regulator last month halted the caretaker government’s plans to privatize PIA, reminding the administration of its limitations as an interim setup. 

PM Sharif chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday to discuss the PIA’s privatization and the restructuring of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), Pakistan’s main tax-collecting body. During the meeting, Sharif asked authorities to present the final implementation schedule of the PIA’s privatization in the next two days. 

“The prime minister issued strict instructions that laziness and carelessness will not be tolerated in this act,” the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a press release. “The prime minister directed that 100 percent transparency should be ensured at all stages.”

Sharif was informed about the progress so far in the national flag carrier’s privatization during the meeting, while the next steps in the plan were also discussed, the PMO said. 

On the FBR’s restructuring, the prime minister directed Pakistan’s law ministry to make recommendations for the resolution of pending cases and legal disputes in courts related to tax collections and revenue, so that the hurdles in the way of disbursement of Rs1.7 trillion to the national exchequer can be resolved.

One of the principal tasks of Sharif’s government would be to secure a long-term bailout program from the IMF as Pakistan’s current financial assistance deal with the international lender expires this month. 

Pakistan’s national airline has accumulated hundreds of billions of rupees in losses and arrears over the years, and is on the verge of default. In October last year, over a dozen domestic and international PIA flights were canceled due to fuel shortages after it emerged the PIA had not cleared the dues of the state-owned Pakistan State Oil (PSO).