PIA privatisation to avert Rs259b projected losses: Saad Rafique

ISLAMABAD: Aviation Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique on Friday warned that Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) may endure alarming losses of Rs259 billion by the year 2030 if urgent corrective measures are not implemented, which includes the transfer of its administrative control to the private sector.

The federal minister made these remarks while speaking on the Senate floor after tabling “The Pakistan International Airlines Corporation (Conversion) (Amendment) Bill, 2023”.

Saad Rafique emphasised the necessity of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and granting administrative control to the private sector to sustain PIA. “The airline is facing a daunting debt burden of Rs742 billion,” he noted.

However, due to severe opposition from Senators, the Senate Chairman referred the standing committee concerned, stating that the injection of FDI and administrative control to the private sector was essential to make PIA a profitable entity.

Amidst the proceedings, PTI lawmakers raised the issue of quorum, leading the chairman to call for a fifteen-minute bell ringing. However, once the quorum was satisfied, the House proceedings resumed.

The Senate Chairman referred the bill to the relevant standing committee for further perusal.

The bill proposes an amendment to Section 3 which says “the shareholders of the company shall be deemed to own and hold the same number of fully paid shares with such rights and privileges, including as to class, kind and face value, as they owned and the Federal Government may, during the validity period and by notification in official Gazette, issue fresh shares or cancel any shares as it may deem fit.”