After $18bn loss, govt to reassess Pakistan Steel Mills liabilities

After removing Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) from the privatisation list, the government has assigned its management consulting to Pakistan Institute of Management (PIM) to re-evaluate core and non-core assets along with legal, fiscal and human resource liabilities, but not before losing more than $18 billion in over eight years of closure. “The purpose of this (Management Consulting) assignment is to assess and report on various aspects of PSM’s operation including housing societies, contractual agreements, legal matters, human resources, assets and inventory,” said an office order issued by the Ministry of Industries and Production (MOIP). Under the terms of reference (TOR), the PIM, an organisation under the MOIP, is required to cover at least seven critical areas, including assets, liabilities and legal and fiscal challenges. The PML-N government closed PSM in June 2015, except for keeping the main plant on heat mode. It was removed from the privatisation list by the caretaker government last month. Since PSM’s closure in June 2015, the country has lost an estimated $18 billion in foreign exchange for import of steel products that were once produced by PSM. While PIM claims to be providing consulting services in many areas, this would be its first such an assignment to provide a 360-degree view of PSM-like mammoth organisation. The MOIP’s top delegation would be rushing to Karachi to identify problems and address them as the PIM had reportedly been given “a very short time window and too big an assignment,” said a senior government official.