Staff Reporter
Islamabad
The Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday said Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) should be sold without delay as this dead horse has so far wasted almost Rs500 billion and there is no chance that it will ever become a profitable company.
The government could have saved billions if PSM was sold two years ago when the PTI came to power, it said.
Chairman PEW Brig (retd) Aslam Khan said that PSM is closed for five years but its 9500 employees are getting salaries and other benefits.
All the governments used this institution to accommodate political workers while appointing management on political bases which has ruined this organization beyond repair, he said.
Keeping in view the experience of the PSM the government should also sell all the bleeding enterprises as the economy is on the brink while international institutions are not lending enough money.
Brig (retd) Aslam Khan said the previous governments of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) could neither revive nor privatize the mills and now they are opposing the move to sell it which is amazing.
He informed that the PSM owes its deterioration to frequent losses, corruption, debts and poor management while the accumulated losses of the state-owned enterprises had exceeded the annual defense budget outlay as the previous visionless governments are responsible for it.
It is high time to take a decision about the dead wood and cut the limb and save the body otherwise entire economy will pay for keeping these white elephants alive, he warned.
Country cannot survive bankruptcy if financial discipline was not observed at this critical juncture as coronavirus has damaged economy beyond expectations, the PEW Chairman said, adding that the Privatization Commission should also be revamped as it is taking years to finalize deals which should be closed in months.
