Pakistan International Airlines' privatisation: Six companies qualify for bid

Islamabad [Pakistan], June 4 : Pakistan's Privatisation Minister Abdul Aleem Khan said that the government has finalized a list of six companies chosen to bid for privatizing national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Dawn reported.
The announcement came a couple of weeks after Pakistan extended the date for submitting expressions of interest. A total of eight companies and consortiums had expressed an interest.
Air Blue, Arif Habib Corporation, Blue World City, Fly Jinnah, Pak Ethanol (Pvt) Consortiums, and YB Holdings Consortiums emerged as the finalists, according to a statement from the office of Abdul Aleem Khan, as per Dawn.
Further, he added, that the pre-qualified companies can take part in the bids for the PIA."
According to Dawn, the government has previously said it was putting on block a stake of between 51 per cent and 100 per cent in the loss-making airline as part of reforms urged by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Last month, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the concerned officials to expedite the privatisation process of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), and other loss-making state-owned institutions, ARY News reported.
According to the report, PM Sharif called a high-level meeting in Islamabad to take stock of the privatisation process and also directed that immediate measures should be taken to strengthen the ability of the institutions in charge of privatisation to resuscitate the economy and speed up the process of delivering assistance to people.
Earlier, it was reported that then-Pakistan's caretaker government and banks had agreed on a plan to restructure the debt of troubled Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
Under the budget agreement, the government will utilize proceeds from the sale of PIA for principal payments. In return, banks will accept a 10-year debt rollover with a 12 per cent annual interest rate, resulting in Pakistan rupees (PKR) 32.2 billion in annual interest payments as reported by the Express Tribune in Pakistan.
According to the sources, the finance ministry, the privatization ministry including the representatives of nine commercial banks, a total debt of PKR 268 billion debt, including PKR 250 billion principal, is being rearranged for 10 years. The government decided to pay back the debt annually at 12 per cent PIA's total outstanding debt stands at PKR 825 billion.
The privatization ministry and PIA must secure no objection certificates from the Civil Aviation Authority and Federal Board of Revenue to file a scheme of arrangement with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), The Express Tribune reported.