Public to private: Senior minister Sirajul Haq flays government over privatisation

The government is taking such decisions only to follow the dictates of the IMF and World Bank, says Haq. PHOTO: INP

PESHAWAR: 

The federal government has taken 110 wrong decisions in the past 110 days – decisions crucial in increasing inflation and unemployment across the country, claimed Finance Minister Sirajul Haq.

At a news conference at the JI Markaz Peshawar, the senior Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) leader maintained the government’s decision to privatise profitable state holdings is “continuing with the legacy of imperialism”.

The JI would protest the privatisation of certain government departments, he added.

In order to stop the government, the party has asked labour unions to meet on October 28 in Lahore to discuss the potential unemployment of roughly 0.9million people after the privatisation of 31 departments. “The sale of organisations and departments to the private sector has proven to be a wrong decision so far,” said Haq. None of those companies are profitable, he added.

The government should focus on eliminating corruption instead of moving assets from the public to the private sector, argued the senior minister.

“The government is taking such decisions only to follow the dictates of the IMF and World Bank.”

The privatisation of Pakistan Steel Mills was investigated and it was revealed India was involved in its privatisation, alleged Haq. “In 2005 the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation needed a Rs5 billion subsidy which the government did not provide but after its privatisation the subsidy reached Rs72 billion.”

Discussing the dilapidated condition of the country’s railways, the finance minister said the department can be improved by managing manpower. He claimed roughly 80 million people are associated with the railway department, directly and indirectly