Airports, banks & insurance cos in the basket: PC working on sell-off of 17 SoEs, including 9 DISCOs

Pakistan’s Privatisation Commission is preparing plans covering 17 state-owned enterprises, among them nine electricity distributors, alongside private-sector operation of three leading airports. The programme also includes proposed deals involving banks and insurance firms, adviser to the prime minister Muhammad Ali said at a CEO summit on Thursday, according to Business Recorder.

Ali said private participation and public-private partnerships could add capital, skills and efficiency to companies and infrastructure, while freeing government funds for essential services. He also set out a TRUST framework focused on competitive industries, continued reform, private investment, exports and workforce skills, and named agriculture, textiles and digital services as areas with growth capacity. He argued that reliable energy, a wider tax base and stronger exports were important to lasting economic progress.