Briefing the International Monetary Fund (IMF)about the progress made on its privatization programme so far, thegovernment has conveyed to it that it has no plan to privatize any state-owned unit until the next general elections.
Sources in the Finance Ministry stated that at the same time, thegovernment had assured the Fund that it would keep working on itsprivatization programme at a brisk pace.
They informed that a headway had been made on the privatization of thePakistan International Airlines (PIA), which was expected to complete byFebruary 2024-end.
Right now, 27 units were on the government’s privatization list, sourcessaid, adding that eight from the financial and real estate sectors werealso included in the list.
Similarly, they went on to say, four units from the industrial sectorand 14 from the energy sector were also on the list.
Likewise, they informed, the government was actively pursuing theprivatization of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and State Life Insurance.
The government was also eyeing the privatization of Balloki, HaveliBahadur, Guddu and Nandipur power plants, sources revealed.
Not only that, the government was also working on the privatization ofall power distribution companies, they disclosed.
House Building Finance Corporation, First Women Bank, PakistanEngineering Company, Pakistan Engineering Company and Sindh EngineeringLimited were also among state-owned units the government wanted to sell,sources concluded.
