No govt financing, sovereign-guaranteed loans for new PIA aircraft: adviser to finmin

No govt financing, sovereign-guaranteed loans for new PIA aircraft: adviser to finmin.

Key points

• News Desk Published September 27, 2026 Updated September 27, 2026 07: 55pm.
• Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad clarified on Sunday that the administration was not buying any aircraft for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
• Follow Dawn Business on X, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook for insights on business, finance and tech from Pakistan and throughout the world.
• The finance ministry remarked concerning the session that the two discussed the Reko Diq mining project and funding opportunities for procuring an aircraft for PIA.
• But, Schehzad pointed out in his post, the US Exim's "mandate, like export credit agencies elsewhere, is to support its country's exports and jobs".

News Desk Published September 27, 2026 Updated September 27, 2026 07: 55pm. Join our Whatsapp Channel. Add Dawn as a trusted source.

Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad clarified on Sunday that the administration was not buying any aircraft for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). It was privatised through an auction in December last year.

"The government is neither buying aircraft for a privatised PIA, nor has it announced any sovereign guarantee of taxpayer-funded loan for doing so, " Schehzad posted on X after claims on social media that a minister was arranging and negotiating sovereign-linked financing for the jets.

In practice, the claims came after a recent session between Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and Chair of the US Export-Import (Exim) Bank John Jovanovich on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Notably, the finance ministry remarked concerning the session that the two discussed the Reko Diq mining project and funding opportunities for procuring an aircraft for PIA. The finance minister shared PIA's interest in Boeing's 787 Dreamliners and "sought support for a financing package covering aircraft and engines".

Boeing aircraft are US exports. US Exim provides financing backing to foreign purchasers of US-manufactured aircraft, including airlines, through established financing structures.

"US Exim's own framework provides for asset-backed aircraft financing, where financing can be secured against the aircraft itself and credit assessed on the airline/lessee and/or guarantor, if any. A sovereign guarantee is therefore not an automatic requirement, " he continued.

Explaining the government's role regarding the potential acquisition of the aircraft, he remarked it was doing "exactly what governments around the world are expected to do for their businesses: opening doors, facilitating access to international financing, technology and suppliers and promoting investment and commercial opportunities".

He continued that Aurangzeb's discussions with US Exim were not even confined to PIA. It covered potential financing throughout aviation, refinery upgrades and Reko Diq as part of a much broader Pakistan-US economic engagement. "And this is entirely consistent with Pakistan's economic direction, " Schehzad remarked.

He continued that the administration was "deliberately reducing the state's role in commercial activity, pursuing privatisation and creating greater space for private capital. Private-sector-led expansion does not mean administration abandons the private sector; it means administration enables it rather than running businesses itself".

Therefore, claims of a 'public loan, hidden subsidy, state backstop' or taxpayers assuming PIA's commercial risk should not be presented as facts when no such arrangement has been confirmed. The official statement refers to potential US Exim financing backing; it does not announce administration borrowing for PIA or a sovereign guarantee.

"Privatisation transfers ownership and commercial management. It does not require the administration of Pakistan to stop opening doors for Pakistani businesses, " he noted.

Taken together, the developments around no govt financing, sovereign-guaranteed loans for new PIA aircraft: adviser to finmin point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.