Dump the PSEs

Based on the discussions so far in the print and electronic media, Budget 2019-2020 seems to be a ‘stabilisation’ budget as well as a ‘strategy-oriented’ budget at the same time, though it is perhaps tilted more towards stability. As discussed threadbare by various news-anchors and their invitees/participants, it has been generally noted that this government should have taken aggressive steps to curtail the growing power-sector losses, which are now threatening to engulf the gas sector as well, and plans should have been conceived on how to dispose off some of our behemoth loss-making ‘Public Sector Enterprises’ either through ambitious, out-of-the-box, public-private joint-ventures or if that’s not plausible then outright privatization. Some of the leading industrialists and economic experts (hailing from the public and private sectors) should have been invited to participate or advise the government on how to off-load these PSEs at the soonest to curtail the flow of economic ‘sunk-costs’ from the exchequer. No sector or organization should be allowed to run, if all it delivers is a perennial burden on our economy.

In my opinion, far-reaching power and gas sector reforms and dumping the PSEs into private hands (through careful deliberations with all stakeholders) may become an absolute imperative for the government as it envisions to accelerate its economic stability and revival plan for this nation

Abbas R Siddiqi

Lahore