KARACHI: Pakistan is likely to complete long-delayed privatization of its loss-making national carrier, the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), by November this year, officials said on Monday, as the government pushes ahead with key reforms to revive the struggling economy.

Cash-strapped Pakistan is looking to privatize the debt-ridden PIA to raise funds and reform state-owned enterprises as envisaged under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program secured last year.

In July, Pakistan prequalified four investors for the sale of PIA. Among the bidding groups, one is a consortium of major industrial firms Lucky Cement, Hub Power Holdings, Kohat Cement and Metro Ventures. Another is led by investment firm Arif Habib Corp. and includes fertilizer producer Fatima Fertilizer, private education operator The City School, and real estate firm Lake City Holdings. Additionally, Fauji Fertilizer Company, a military-backed conglomerate, and Pakistani airline Airblue, have been approved to bid for PIA.

On Monday, officials briefed the Senate Standing Committee on Privatization on the compliance status of previous recommendations, the impact of phasing out the single-buyer model and latest developments in the privatization of state-owned enterprises, including the PIA, according to the Senate Secretariat.

“[PIA’s] privatization is expected by November 2025,” the Senate Secretariat quoted officials as telling the privatization committee. “Four companies are participating, and they will need to form consortiums with established airlines to operate PIA. Two applicants were disqualified for not meeting standards.”

Pakistan has been seeking to sell a 51-100 percent stake in the struggling national airline to raise funds and reform cash-draining, state-owned enterprises as envisaged under a $7 billion International Monetary Fund program.

The airline has been one of the government’s most costly liabilities, which has accumulated over $2.5 billion in losses in roughly a decade and been surviving on repeated bailouts that have weighed heavily on Pakistan’s strained budget.

Late last year, a deal fell through after a potential buyer reportedly offered $36 million for a 60 percent stake in the national flag carrier, a fraction of the asking price of approximately $303 million.

Earlier this year, the debt-ridden airline resumed flights to Europe and the UK after a four-and-a-half-year ban on the airline was lifted by the European and British regulators. PIA was banned in June 2020 from flying to the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom and the United States, a month after one of its Airbus A-320s plunged into a residential neighborhood in Karachi, killing nearly 100 people.

The airline still remains barred from flying to the United States.