10-months old PDM government stalled privatisation process
According to press release issued by Ministry of Privatization, Abid Bhayo was given pendency of privatization on April 19, 2022, however, no progress has been made regarding privatization till date
The Ministry of Privatization could not make any major progress in 300 days, the biggest opposition party to the privatization was given the Ministry of Privatization by the PDM government, on which questions are being raised from the first day.
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s stance against privatization has always been very clear and unequivocal and Raza Rabbani, Syed Khurshid Shah and Senator Moola Bakhsh Chandio have addressed Parliament against privatization many times.
There is also an impression among the people that the People’s Party is against privatization. In such a situation, the government of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has given the Ministry of Privatization to Member National Assembly of People’s Party Abid Bhivu and he is running the privatization program very slowly and so far the PDM government In the first 300 days, no one could show any progress in privatization.
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According to the press release issued by the Ministry of Privatization, Abid Bhayo was given the Privatization Penalty on April 19, 2022. On 25 April 2022, he convened the first meeting on privatisation.
On May 19, 2022, the Privatization Minister chaired a meeting on Pakistan Steel Mills matters. On July 26, 2022, Abid Bhayo was made the Privatization Minister as well as the Chairman Privatization Commission.
A meeting was also held on July 27, 2022 regarding privatization issues. Chaired the meeting on privatization of CDA Convention Center on 28 July 2022.
On September 5, 2022, a meeting was also held under the chairmanship of Abid Bhayo regarding the issue of privatization of Jinnah Convention Center.
A Privatization Board meeting was held on October 3, 2022 as well. On January 25, 2023, a Privatization Board meeting was held under the chairmanship of Privatization Minister and Privatization Board Chairman Abid Bhayo.
In the first 300 days of the PDM government, there was no significant progress in the privatization sector. Recently, from January 31 to February 9, discussions were also held with the IMF on issues and targets related to increasing non-tax revenue in the privatization sector.
It should be noted that during the reign of Imran Khan, on March 21, 2022, the privatization of two LNG power plants, Haveli Bahadur Shah and Baloki Power Plant, was in the final stages, and in this regard, an income of more than 100 billion rupees was also expected.
In the budget presented by the Muslim League-Nun and its allied parties on July 1, 2022 for the current fiscal year, a target of 96 billion rupees has been set through privatization.
