The caretaker government on Tuesday declared Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) a dead asset and said that Pakistan International Airlines is losing Rs13 billion per month and Rs50 million per day, with the losses of power distribution companies surpassing Rs600 billion.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad flanked by Caretaker Information Minister Murtaza Solangi, Interim Privatization Minister Fawad Hassan Fawad said to the media that PSM is a dead asset while PIA incurred a whopping loss of $7 billion since 2012 to the national exchequer.
Fawad said that the losses of government-owned enterprises have increased significantly in recent years. From 2018 to 2019, Rs2,542 billion were spent on government enterprises, and by 2020, the losses of enterprises were equivalent to 7% of GDP, whereas, 15 major institutions, including PIA and PSM, have a debt of Rs2,665 billion.
He said that 15 of PIA’s 34 planes are grounded, adding that the national carrier is losing Rs12.77 billion per month and Rs50 million per day. The national airlines inflicted a loss of more than $7 billion since 2012, and its total losses reached Rs713 billion by June 2023, he said.
Fawad Hasan Fawad also highlighted that the government allocated Rs2.542 trillion to support loss-making SOEs between 2018 and 2022. He underscored that these funds could have been allocated to advance national development projects such as the Bhasha Dam.
