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KARACHI: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked the federal government to reduce Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) losses.
The IMF mission is in Pakistan for talks on the 9th review of the loan programme, which has been deadlocked. The fund has instructed the federal government to establish a strategy to reduce the PIA’s losses, which have reached Rs400 billion.
According to sources close to the situation, the IMF has also requested from Islamabad a strategy for turning the PIA into a profitable corporation. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expressed alarm earlier in the day about fiscal indiscipline and mismanagement in government ministries.
According to insiders, the global lender is dissatisfied with the continuous deficit in state-owned enterprises.
“There has been no improvement in power and gas transmission losses,” the IMF stated. “Pakistan is constantly incurring losses in the energy sector,” said an IMF delegation. “It pressed on the privatization of public entities that were losing money,” insiders added.
According to insiders, the monetary fund has also urged that the state limit its economic intervention through privatization and that government departments be audited on a regular basis.
