The Government will seek new expressions of interest (EOI) for the sale of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) at the end of this month, after the first annual gain of the national airline in more than 20 years, a government advisor announced Thursday.
The efforts to privatize PIA were hindered by unresolved problems with respect to taxes and the general balance of the airline. Muhammad Ali, government advisor on privatization, declared that these problems have now been addressed.
The new EOI is expected to be published at the end of April 2025, with plans to complete privatization before the end of the year.
In addition to PIA, the Government has also initiated the privatization process for energy distribution companies, marking it as a high priority. Ali said that some companies originally scheduled for the second phase would now be included in the first privatization phase.
The government has been trying to privatize PIA, with the aim of downloading a 51-100% participation in the airline loaded with debts as part of reforms under a program of international monetary funds of $ 7 billion. However, a previous attempt last year failed when only one offer was received, well below the sale price of $ 300 million.
