Pakistan receives bidders’ request to delay final offer for national air carrier – official

Staff of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) talk with passengers at a PIA office in Karachi on February 27, 2019. (AFP/File)

• Government says PIA’s privatization will be completed on a ‘mutually agreed’ date with pre-qualified bidders
• The national carrier is among 88 state-owned enterprises that made collective losses of $2.61 billion in FY22

ISLAMABAD: The government has received a request from bidders to delay a final offer for the state-owned Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), an official confirmed on Tuesday, saying the process will be finalized on a “mutually agreed” date.
The government last month selected six companies qualified to bid for the national air carrier out of a pool of eight after receiving expressions the interest. Pakistan plans to sell more than 51 percent stakes in the loss-making airline as part of the economic reforms suggested by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a fresh $7 billion loan program.
“We have received a request from the pre-qualified bidders to delay the process as they wanted to get hold of some additional information on the airline before making a final deal,” Dr. Ahsan Ishaq, a spokesperson for the privatization ministry, told Arab News.
“The privatization of PIA will definitely take place, as mutually agreed date for the process is being worked out with the bidders,” he continued.
As per the ministry, the pre-qualified bidders include Air Blue, Arif Habib Corporation, Blue World City, Fly Jinnah, Pak Ethanol (Pvt) Consortiums and YB Holdings Consortiums.
The government was initially planning to seal the deal on the country’s Independence Day, August 14, which was now expected to be delayed by “some weeks.”
The bidders have been waiting for PIA’s latest audited accounts, aircrafts lease agreements and a clarity on the flights to Europe that are currently banned.
Official data available with Arab News reveal there are 88 commercially operated state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in Pakistan, with their collective losses reaching Rs730.258 billion ($2.61 billion) in the fiscal year 2022 (FY22).
The top ten loss-making entities, including PIA with Rs97.5 billion, the National Highways Authority at Rs168.5 billion and the Peshawar Electric Supply Company Limited with Rs102.2 billion, accounted for a cumulative loss of Rs650.197 billion ($2.33 billion).
In contrast, the remaining enterprises reported combined losses of Rs80 billion ($286 million) during the same fiscal year.
Dr. Ishaq disclosed that PIA’s cumulative losses alone had surpassed Rs800 billion ($2.86 billion), with the total asset valuation of the airline standing at approximately Rs160 billion ($572 million).
“Some weeks of delay in the final bidding of the PIA on request of the bidders will not affect the overall privatization process,” he added.