The newly appointed Chairman of the Pakistan Business Council, Ziad Bashir, has urged the Government of Pakistan to significantly accelerate the privatisation process and offload all loss-making state-owned entities within 12 months. Speaking exclusively to Business Recorder after assuming charge at the Pakistan Business Council last week, Bashir described the current pace of privatisation as too slow and called for the government to proceed with the process at high speed. He said the disposal of state-owned entities that are no longer viable should be treated as an urgent economic priority, arguing that continued delays increase the financial burden on the national exchequer.
Bashir said loss-making state-owned entities cost the country billions of dollars in losses every year and that every delay in dealing with them adds further pressure to public finances. He argued that even selling a loss-making entity for a nominal amount could make economic sense if doing so removes the recurring losses from the government’s balance sheet. According to the PBC chairman, the government should identify the entities that need to be offloaded and complete the process within a 12-month period. He stressed that the exercise should be carried out on a “war footing” and at high speed rather than allowing individual transactions to remain pending for extended periods.
Bashir, who also serves as Chief Executive Officer of Arwen Tech (Private) Limited, described the privatisation of Pakistan International Airlines as an example of what could be achieved through private-sector participation. He termed last year’s transaction “amazing” and said the consortium that acquired the national carrier was capable of turning the business around. In December last year, an Arif Habib-led consortium acquired a 75% stake in the loss-making airline for Rs135 billion. Bashir said the government should seek more capable business groups to take over state-owned entities and give them the opportunity to improve their operational and financial performance.
The PBC chairman identified export growth as his top economic priority and linked Pakistan’s recurring boom-and-bust cycles to a structural imbalance between imports and exports. He said that whenever the economy expands beyond a certain pace, the country eventually faces economic pressure because imports increase faster than exports. His remarks come after Pakistan’s export performance remained weak during fiscal year 2025-26, with overall goods exports declining despite growth in sectors including information technology and some textile segments. Pakistan’s total exports during FY26 stood at approximately $30.13 billion, representing a year-on-year decline of nearly 6%, which contributed to a widening trade deficit and a shift to a current account deficit.
Bashir said Pakistan needs to address export growth, tax reform and losses from state-owned entities simultaneously rather than focusing on only one part of the economy. He also criticised the existing tax system, describing it as completely broken and anti-growth, and called for a broader tax base and greater documentation of economic activity that currently remains outside the formal tax system. He said tax rates should be set at levels that businesses and individuals can reasonably accept, while the government should also build taxpayer confidence by demonstrating how collected revenues are being spent. Bashir, who previously served as Chairman of the Pakistan Retail Council from 2014 to 2021, highlighted the retail sector as an area where the tax base could be expanded, noting that retail accounts for around 18% of gross domestic product but contributes only around 1% of taxation. He said bringing even 500,000 retailers into the tax net would represent a major achievement.
High energy costs were another concern raised by Bashir, who said expensive electricity is increasingly encouraging productive consumers to move away from the national grid and shift towards renewable energy sources. He warned that declining battery prices could accelerate this trend, potentially resulting in more consumers leaving the grid. Bashir said the government needs to engage with the International Monetary Fund on the issue and seek support for measures that could address the energy-cost challenge. Pakistan is currently operating under a 37-month International Monetary Fund Extended Fund Facility programme worth $7 billion, which focuses on strengthening monetary and fiscal policy credibility, improving public finances, maintaining price stability and implementing structural reforms.
According to Bashir, Pakistan’s export competitiveness is also being affected by high energy costs and the exchange rate. He argued that exchange-rate management needs to support exports while preventing imports from gaining an excessive advantage. He also called for a significant change in Pakistan’s export mix, urging businesses to move towards more technical, specialised and value-added products rather than continuing to export the same categories of goods that have dominated the country’s export basket for decades. He said Pakistan needs to add value across its export industries if it wants to build stronger and more sustainable export growth.
Bashir also called for stronger action against smuggling, which he said continues to undermine the competitiveness of domestic manufacturers. He argued that local businesses face difficulties accessing international markets and competing on a level playing field while smuggled imported products can enter the domestic market without paying applicable duties and taxes. He urged the relevant authorities to strengthen enforcement against smuggling on a large scale, saying that reducing such activity would help create a more competitive environment for local industry and support formal economic activity.
The PBC chairman also stressed the need for more frequent monitoring of government performance and economic reforms. He said waiting six months to review government measures could be too late because economic damage may already have occurred by that point. Bashir called for regular assessments of government initiatives so that policymakers can identify shortcomings and take corrective measures before problems become more difficult to address. His proposed reform agenda therefore centres on faster privatisation of loss-making state-owned entities, stronger export growth, tax-base expansion, lower energy costs, greater action against smuggling and more frequent monitoring of economic policies.
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