THE federal government has approved the transaction structure for sale of 27 state-owned properties and set the minimum reserve price at Rs 6.6 billion aimed at raising money to pay off the debts. The Cabinet Committee on Privatization has allowed open auction bidding for 27 land assets owned by the federal government entities in pursuance of a federal cabinet decision to dispose of ‘unproductive’ state lands and assets.
The Government has its own justification for embarking on the path of selling assets of the country. Prime Minister Imran Khan had directed to identify the unproductive land across the country and sell it to private parties to raise money to pay off the public debt but experts say the revenue that is expected to be generated would be negligible and not enough even to meet a day’s expenditure of the state. We have been pleading in these columns repeatedly and forcefully that the state land should not be disposed of for short term gains as properties of different ministries and departments are precious assets that can be utilized for more productive purposes than to sell them to the private parties to earn a few rupees to run State affairs. The very idea to sell public sector entities and properties to raise non-tax revenue is flawed and exposes the motives behind the entire process of privatization, which was initiated on the pretext of getting rid of loss-making entities. We made serious mistakes in the past as well but regrettably are not willing to learn the lesson.
