Pakistan Steel Mills’ privatisation would have benefited country: Zubair

KARACHI: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Muhammad Zubair believes that the privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) would have benefitted the country, regretting the financial losses due to delay in process, ARY News reported on Tuesday.

Speaking at ARY News programme ‘Khabbar’, the former Sindh governor said that the PML-N believed that privatisation of country’s institutions was the ‘perfect solution’ to financial concerns.

‘There is no other way than privatisation of loss-making institutions,” Muhammad Zubair said, adding that the people of Pakistan were bearing the losses of the country’s institutions.

He pointed out that former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry reversed the privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills – which caused a “lot of loss”. “That decision portrayed Pakistan’s negative image at the global level,” he said.

“Foreign companies, including ones from China, had expressed interest in PSM, and its privatisation would have benefitted Pakistan,” he said.

Zubair further said that PML-N had constituted the “best privatisation board” which also took important decisions. “It was in our manifesto that up to 70 per cent of institutions should be privatized”, he added.

He pointed out three big loss-making institutions – Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) and FESCO – which according to him were causing financial problems to the country.

“We had decided to privatise PSM, PIA and FESCO in October 2015,” he said, claiming that they even received bids related to electric distribution company. “If FESCO’s bids were open, it would be easy to privatise other DISCOs too,” he added.

Speaking of national carrier, Muhammad Zubair said that the PMLN-led government reached the last stage in the process of PIA’s privatisation. “Unfortunately, the process of privatisation of all three institutions was reversed’, he regretted.

According to Zubair, the board – which halted the process – was headed by former finance minister Ishaq Dar. “Despite the bids, Ishaq Dar halted the privatisation process,” he alleged.

Zubair also claimed that the Pakistan Steel Mills was handed over to Sindh government on directives of Ishaq Dar. “There is always a political hindrance in privatisation process,” he added.