Privatising PIA

It seems the team at the helm of economic affairs in the country wants to prove its worth quickly. Much of the areas in the PML-N manifesto that Ishaq Dar may have decided were ‘no go’ areas after public protest could now maybe taken up, if one is to believe Privitisation Minister Daniyal Aziz, who recently announced that the government is ready to sell Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). For what price and under what law are as yet unanswered questions. However, such details have not stopped the federal minister from promising that the process to sell the airline will be in place before April 15. PIA’s woes have been well-documented but much of these are due to haphazard state interventions that came with questionable intentions at best. This situation is similar to the legislation passed in 2016. Without consulting the PIA unions, the government had at the time decided to pass a law allowing the privatisation of the PIA. It was forced to withdraw it after the staff brought the airline to a crippling halt. Not only that, it was also forced to amend the law to make it illegal to sell the national air carrier.

In this context, the new privatisation minister seemed to have been liberally using metaphors when saying that the government could sell PIA tomorrow if an investor came with the right money. This is simply not possible even if the magic investor were to arrive. What is, however, interesting is the tone with which the Abbasi administration is talking about economic issues. Seemingly unburdened by the needs of politics, the new economic team’s words suggest that they might actually be serious about taking some drastic measures regarding the economy. Whether these will be good or bad will be for us to judge later, but what will be worrying for many are measures that may come straight from the IMF textbook. With the voting public usually bearing the brunt of IMF-dictated policies – privatization being an ever-important one – one would hope any and all economic decisions are taken keeping the people in mind. For all we know, talk of selling PIA might be just words. If not, then the government is likely to face another round of protests against any privatisation attempt. Even more importantly: it may not find any buyers. Why would anyone take on an airline that the might of a state has been unable to revive? The current economic managers would do well to devise a plan to improve its performance – privatisation or no privatisation.