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In an effort to raise funds and eliminate loss-making state enterprises, the Pakistani government has decided to sell off state-owned assets. Recent reports suggested that Karachi Airport had been sold secretly. Although the government previously announced that after the Islamabad International Airport, two more airports—Jinnah International Airport in Karachi and Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore—would be privatized, the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) dismissed the rumors of Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport being privatized.
Earlier, rumors surfaced online claiming that Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport had been sold for $1.8 billion, sparking varied reactions on social media. A PCAA spokesperson categorically stated that Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, remains fully under the authority’s management.
The PCAA advised the public to disregard the misleading information.
It is worth mentioning that the federal government does have a plan to sell the country’s airports. In April, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said that after Islamabad International Airport, Jinnah International Airport in Karachi and Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore would also be privatized.
Reports suggest that the newly elected government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is under significant pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to privatize loss-making public-sector entities. The privatization of various public-sector companies is an integral part of the IMF’s conditions for a bailout package.