Pakistan International Airlines Appeals to Government $75 million bailout package

According to the report, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is requesting a bailout package from the interim administration in the amount of $75 million in order to keep operating amid a severe debt issue.

According to the report, the interim Pakistani set-up has not yet agreed to the demand. The management of Pakistan’s national airline has been encouraged by the interim administration to create a workable restructuring plan notwithstanding the release of funding. The airline met with temporary finance minister Shamshad Akhtar last week and told him it had a PKR 23 billion financing shortage. Although the government was willing to guarantee a small portion, PKR13 billion (USD42.7 million), Akhtar authorized the airline to secure commercial financing for the limited  amount.

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Additionally, he gave the airline instructions to submit to the federal cabinet a restructuring and privatization plan that would demonstrate their attempts to improve their financial status as opposed to just relying on government assistance.

The PIA is reportedly the most expensive public sector loss-maker in the nation, and succeeding administrations have been allocating funds from the budget to keep it going. The airline is the country’s largest loser in the public sector, and successive administrations have injected money into it to keep it running. The airline is now led by Air Force officials without any commercial airline management expertise.

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In the meeting, the management of the Pakistan International Airline (PIA) advised the interim finance minister that there was a Rs 23 billion funding imbalance. However, the finance ministry requested that the PIA management secure Rs 13 billion in Pakistani rupees from the banks in order to cover the remaining portion of the yearly sovereign guarantees limit.

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