PIA gets just one bid from shortlist

October 30, 2024 (MLN): Pakistan received just one bid for a stake in the national carrier as five other consortiums stayed away from one of the country’s major privatization attempts, Bloomberg reported.

The bidder deposited “earnest money” for the transaction with the nation’s Privatisation Commission by Tuesday’s deadline, Ahsan Ishaq, spokesman for the Privatisation Ministry, said by phone, without disclosing the name of the interested party.

A total of six groups were shortlisted to bid for shares in loss-making Pakistan International Airlines including private airline Airblue Ltd., Arif Habib Corporation Ltd., Air Arabia’s Fly Jinnah, Y.B. Holdings Pvt., Pak Ethanol Pvt. and real estate consortium Blue World City.

This transaction is a part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s pledge to the International Monetary Fund to privatize the government’s loss-making entities to reduce the financial burden on the country’s economy.

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