The province government has “no intentions” of participating in the widely reported bidding process to purchase Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), according to Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari on Monday.
The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa announced on Friday that it was prepared to buy the losing national flag carrier after the unsuccessful attempt to sell the PIA last week.
Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said a day later that his daughter, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, had asked him for advice on whether the province government should buy the PIA or start a new airline.
The provincial government might also buy the airline and rebrand it as Air Punjab, Nawaz said, adding that he had advised Maryam to “proceed with further consultations on the potential acquisition of the PIA.”
Privatization Minister Abdul Aleem Khan did, however, make a suggestion on Sunday that the national flag carrier might be sold to a private buyer with no obligations.
According to Khan, the government may come up with a fresh plan to pay off the Rs200 billion in debt and “sell a clean PIA” to a private buyer, which could pique interest from potential purchasers.
“The talks about the Punjab government planning to buy PIA are categorically incorrect,” Bokhari explained in a statement to the media in Lahore today.
Privatization Minister Abdul Aleem Khan did, however, make a suggestion on Sunday that the national flag carrier might be sold to a private buyer with no obligations.
According to Khan, the government may come up with a fresh plan to pay off the Rs200 billion in debt and “sell a clean PIA” to a private buyer, which could pique interest from potential purchasers.
“The talks about the Punjab government planning to buy PIA are categorically incorrect,” Bokhari explained in a statement to the media in Lahore today.
She reaffirmed, “I also want to make it clear that the Punjab government has no plans to purchase PIA.”
She did point out that “any provincial government can launch an airline of their own” provided the provinces had the financial means to do so. Bokhari went on to say that the government had a responsibility to establish favorable conditions for enterprises, but not to manage them.
Pakistan is seeking to sell 51–100% of its debt-ridden PIA in order to raise money and overhaul state-owned businesses as part of a $7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) program.
After several delays, the government’s original plan to privatize the airline by June was postponed until October.
Only Blue World City, a real estate development company, took part in last week’s bidding procedure out of the six groups the government had pre-qualified.
It bid Rs10 billion for a 60 percent stake, which was significantly less than the Rs85 billion minimum price established by the government.
The much-awaited privatization process was then put on hold after Blue World City, a real estate development business, refused to lower the price despite being given time to revise its bid.
