ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday admitted the government had failed to turnaround fortunes of Pakistan International Airline (PIA) and businesses shouldn’t be run by public-sector.
He said vagueness in policy had contributed to the fall in exports from $25 billion to $20 billion in last four years of the current government’s tenure.
In a meeting with a group of journalists on Tuesday, Abbasi pointed out Pakistan’s export potential to international markets was more than $25 billion and vagueness in export policy was being addressed to stem this decline and enhance exports, reported a local newspaper.
He accepted current account deficit posed major challenges and added these were growth specific due to which it had risen. He said the government was ready to handover gas entities and power distribution companies to the provinces and admitted the governments failure to turnaround Pakistan International Airlines.
Abbasi added public sector isn’t equipped to run businesses and liabilities of PIA had soared to Rs450 billion with over Rs100-150 million being bled daily by the state-owned airline. He said, “We are ready to offer it to the provinces, pilot association of PIA or its workers union.”
When asked about Islamabad International Airport, PM Abbasi stated Civil Aviation Authority wasn’t equipped to run a modern airport like the one under construction in the capital and said services of experts may be acquired in this regard.
