Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari cleared the air about speculations that the Punjab government would go ahead to buy the national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), on Monday.
Reportedly, a video of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif surfaced on the Internet regarding his discussion with Chief Minister (CM) Maryam Nawaz about purchasing PIA or establishing a new airline named Air Punjab.
Last week, the Privatization Ministry made an unsuccessful attempt to sell PIA in a bidding process. The federal government set the minimum price for PIA’s privatization bidding at PKR 85 billion, but only one bidder showed interest, offering PKR 10 billion for a 60% stake in PIA. This offer was far below the minimum set by the federal government.
A day after the bidding, a video of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif surfaced on social media, in which he claimed that CM Maryam sought his advice on buying PIA or establishing a new airline, Air Punjab.
On Sunday, Privatization Minister Abdul Aleem Khan said the national flag carrier would be sold to a private buyer once its Rs200 billion liabilities were cleared.
However, today Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari clarified in a media talk regarding the speculation that the Punjab government was planning to buy PIA. She stated that it was completely incorrect that the Punjab government intended to buy an airline.
She clarified that in the video, Nawaz was discussing with Pakistan Muslim League (N) business associates who were complaining about the issue of indirect flights to Pakistan.
She added, “If any province has the fiscal capacity to buy an airline, it can also launch its own airline. It is the government’s responsibility to create favorable conditions for business rather than run businesses.”
It is worth mentioning that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Ali Amin Gandapur also showed interest in buying PIA. He directed the KPK Investment Board to write a letter to Federal Privatization Minister Abdul Aleem Khan, expressing the government’s intention to participate in PIA’s bidding process. In the letter, the KPK government claimed to have made a better bid offer to the federal government than the one made by Blue World City
