Here are four fairy tales from a land called Pari-istan. We call them fairy tales since they don’t happen – at least, are not supposed to happen – in real life. The four tales relate to the privatization of an airline, an automobile company, a bank and a telephone company.

First, the bank. The sale was the result of a backroom deal. Initially of course, the government proceeded with a fair degree of transparency. A foreign professional firm was hired to place a value on the asset. Thereafter, the buyer and the government arrived at a staggered payment arrangement.

The buyer paid the government the equivalent of the value of the furniture of the head office and all the branches in the country. The balance was deferred to a later agreed date. The buyer took control of the bank, obtained a loan of the equivalent amount from his own (now privatized) bank and paid the government........

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