20240521 AI Pakistan eyes asset sales in IMF support call img

The IMF has told Pakistan it must stop subsidizing money-losing entities, such as Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), as a condition for loans to help prop up its faltering economy. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Getty Images)

Pakistan moves to sell national airline in test case for privatization drive

Dozens of state enterprises on auction block as IMF calls for end of subsidies

KARACHI -- Passengers landing at Jinnah International Airport in Karachi are greeted by a grim sight on arrival: the graveyard of out-of-service planes that once flew the skies for debt-strapped national carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

"I do my best to avoid taking a PIA flight," said finance professional Asif Waleed, who regularly takes the two-hour trip between the coastal commercial hub and Pakistan's capital Islamabad. "I have a high degree of confidence that [their] flights never operate on time."

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