PIA financial conditions at brink of default
Shares
Financial condition of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has worsened following a recent plane crash and a heavy burden of loans may push the air carrier to the brink of default.
“The financial crisis is so worse that PIA has eaten up duties and taxes collected on ticket sales and deducted from salaries of its employees,” it said during a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet held on January 18.
The sorry state of affairs of the national flag carrier annoyed Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, an official said.
The Aviation Division emphasised that PIA needed support to pay loan installments and mark-up from January to June 2017, which amounted to Rs24.94 billion.
The situation was getting worse as PIA had not been able to repay the lenders, which could lead to the grounding of aircraft or default on payments, it said, adding liquidity crisis had been continuing for the past several years.
