Days after assumption of office, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed to constitute a review committee on the proposal of handing over the power companies (Discos) to the provinces with a direction, according to a Business Recorder news item, to submit recommendations to him alone.
The prime minister has also reportedly stated that the “entire responsibility of the privatisation process rests with the Privatisation Commission and the Ministry of Privatisation, adding that if there were any problems, it was also the responsibility of the ministry and the Privatisation Commission to remove them and desired that capacity and efficiency issues, if there were any, should be addressed immediately”.
It increasingly appears that the prime minister has asked all to pull their socks up without any further loss of time. His approach to the responsibilities as the chief executive of the country shows that he’s striving to rediscover the speed that earned him the epithet of “Shehbaz speed” during his stints as chief minister of Punjab.
The foregoing clearly suggests that this time the prime minister means business insofar the unfinished agenda of privatisation of various government-run entities is concerned.
The loss-making entities, including PIA, Railways and Pakistan Steel Mills, have already inflicted some irreparable harm on the health of the national kitty.
It is no secret that the government has already gone bankrupt (if it is not so, the country risks going bankrupt within a matter of weeks and months), a fact that was effectively highlighted by the prime minister in his inaugural address in the National Assembly, stating, among other things, that even the expenditure that is incurred on account of the functioning of the Parliament is borne or met through borrowed money.
Solvency or country’s ability to meet its debts and other financial obligations must top the government agenda. Shedding the burden of loss-making entities could help the government deal with the challenge of growing debts in an effective manner.
Haroon Rasheed (Lahore)
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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