Single bid received for PIA privatisation: Bloomberg report

The government's effort to privatise its loss-making national carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), saw just one bid submitted out of six potential contenders, reported Bloomberg on Tuesday. 

A spokesperson for the Privatisation Ministry, Ahsan Ishaq, confirmed that an unnamed bidder deposited the required “earnest money” with the Privatisation Commission by Tuesday's deadline, underscoring the bid’s legitimacy. However, Ishaq declined to reveal the identity of the interested party.

Six groups had originally been shortlisted as prospective buyers of PIA shares, including local and regional players such as Airblue Ltd, Arif Habib Corporation Ltd, Fly Jinnah by Air Arabia, YB Holdings Pvt, Pak Ethanol Pvt, and real estate conglomerate Blue World City. Despite these shortlisted names, only one moved forward with a formal bid.

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb recently confirmed plans to privatise PIA in November as part of the government’s commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) under a 37-month, $7-billion bailout program.