Deadlines on PIA sell-off end

The government has missed the deadlines set by the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) to secure support from official and private creditors for the division of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) into two entities, a prerequisite for privatisation. Formal decisions have not been made on whether the privatisation ministry aims to sell the airline to a foreign government through negotiations or complete the process transparently through a competitive process, according to Ministry of Privatisation officials. However, during internal meetings, the privatisation minister has hinted at a potential negotiated deal. A Scheme of Arrangement for segregating PIA into core and non-core entities couldn’t be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) due to the absence of statutory audited accounts of PIA until September 2023 and no objection certificates from creditors, as per government officials. Secretary Privatisation Jawwad Paul and Secretary Privatisation Commission Usman Bajwa did not respond to questions regarding the missed SIFC deadlines.