Pakistan Failed Its Commitment With IMF on Privatization Plan

Talks between Pakistan and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are set to start in Washington where Pakistan may face tough questions on missing the privatization targets. Pakistan had agreed a target of privatizing two Regasified Liquified Natural Gas (RLNG) power plants with the IMF by June 2022 but with the change of the government and political unrest, the privatization process stalled, reveal official documents of the Privatization Commission. Sources in the Ministry of Privatization said that it could not complete the work on privatization of Regasified Liquified Natural Gas (RLNG) power plants of Haveli Bahadur Shah and Balloki. The IMF had demanded immediate privatization of the power plants and the plan was to sell these plants through privatization process by the end of June. The Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PMLN) government had set up both the Haveli Bahadur Shah and Balloki power plants which have a combined generation capacity of 2,453 MW. According to sources, the privatization of these two power plants is possible in the next financial year. The IMF had suggested that privatization of these two power plants would fetch a good price to overcome the budget deficit. The power plants can generate electricity on dual fuels that is on RLNG and high-speed diesel serves as the backup fuel.