Five bidders withdraw from PIA auction: Here’s why

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has received only one bid to participate in its national carrier, as five other consortia chose not to participate in one of the country’s major privatization efforts.

Privatization Ministry spokesman Ahsan Ishaq said the bidder had submitted a “declaration amount” for the transaction to the Privatization Commission by Tuesday’s deadline. However, he did not reveal the identity of the bidder.

Six groups were initially shortlisted to bid for stake in the struggling Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). These include Air Blue Limited, Arif Habib Corporation Limited, Fly Jinnah (Air Arabia), YB. Holdings Pvt., Pak Ethanol Pvt., and real estate consortium Blue World City.

The privatization is part of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s commitment with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to offload loss-making state-owned enterprises in an effort to ease fiscal pressure on the country’s economy.