No govt financing, sovereign-guaranteed loans for new PIA aircraft: adviser to finmin

According to Dawn, Khurram Schehzad, adviser to the Finance Minister, said on Sunday that the state is not buying planes for Pakistan International Airlines, a carrier sold through an auction last December. He was answering social media claims that a minister was arranging sovereign-linked funding for the jets. Schehzad also said no sovereign backing for taxpayer-funded borrowing has been announced.

The claims followed a meeting between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and John Jovanovich, chair of the US Export-Import Bank, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York. The finance ministry said the two discussed the Reko Diq project and financing options for a PIA aircraft purchase, while Aurangzeb sought backing for a package covering planes and engines. Schehzad countered that the US Exim exists to support American exports and jobs, and that Boeing jets can be financed through asset-backed structures without a sovereign guarantee being automatically required.

He added that the government is steering private investment and reducing its role in business, and that privatisation changes ownership and commercial management without stopping the state from opening doors for Pakistani companies. He asked that claims of a public loan, hidden subsidy or state backstop not be presented as fact, since the official statement only refers to potential US Exim financing support.