Privatisation in Pakistan has rarely been a deliberate or well-planned economic reform. More often, it emerges as a reluctant response to years of mismanagement. State-owned enterprises are routinely retained despite declining performance, political interference and weak accountability. Only after they have accumulated massive losses and unsustainable debt does privatisation suddenly become the chosen solution.

This pattern repeats itself across sectors with striking consistency. Professional management is gradually replaced by political appointments, commercial discipline erodes, and inefficiencies become normalised. Losses are financed through public funds for years, and only when an enterprise becomes fiscally unsustainable does privatisation suddenly appear as a solution. Instead of reforming governance early, successive governments postpone difficult decisions. At that point, the process resembles a fire sale rather than reform.

PIA illustrates this failure vividly. Once a respected regional carrier, PIA was undermined by overstaffing, political........

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