Pak to privatise national airline PIA to please US puppet IMF

Cash-strapped Pakistan will privatise PIA, its loss-making national carrier as part of a deal with the IMF which is pushing the country to get rid of the ailing airlines. “We have already planned to privatise the PIA (Pakistan International Airlines) in view of its heavy and recurring financial losses,” said Privatisation Minister Mohammad Zubair, triggering protests by the PIA employees and the main 

opposition party Pakistan People’s Party.

The privatisation is part of a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is pushing Pakistan to get rid of ailing Pakistan International Airline (PIA) due to losses it had been suffering for the past several years. PIA suffers billion of rupees of losses annually and the government has to inject 12 to 15 billion rupees every year to keep it in the air.

Opposition leader Khurshid Shah, who belongs to PPP, along with several smaller parties yesterday boycotted the National Assembly session over government decision to offload the carrier. “We were and are against privatisation and will never let the government sell national assets for nothing,” Shah said in angry outburst before stomping out of parliament.