SOE Reforms Underway for Sustainable Public Finances – Update
Islamabad : Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance has released the FY25 (FY2024–25) vs FY24 Annual Consolidated SOE Performance Report (77 Commercial SOEs) prepared by its Central Monitoring Unit, reviewed by the Cabinet Committee on SOEs. It presents a single, consolidated view of SOEs performance, fiscal flows, debt, governance and risks under the SOEs Act, 2023.
This is a significant step-up in transparency and disclosure
The government has been publicly sharing a portfolio-level SOE picture for quite some time now. This latest consolidated one covers:
- Financial & non-financial performance
- Fiscal support and inflows
- Full debt mapping
- Unfunded pensions (legacy risks)
- Governance, audits & board compliance.
This enables evidence-based decisions and real accountability.
FY25 snapshot (FY25):
- Revenues: PKR 12.4tn
- Profits: PKR 709.9bn
- Losses: PKR 832.8bn (improved ~2% YoY)
- Net result: Net loss PKR 122.9bn
- Inflows to Govt: PKR 2,119bn (FY25) via dividends, taxes & interest
The report shows losses remain concentrated in a few SOEs, mainly in transport and power distribution.
Reform already under execution.
This is not a reform plan, it is reform in execution, quoting a few examples:
- Utility Stores Corporation shut down, ending a long-standing fiscal drain
- First Women Bank privatised
- PASSCO’s winding-up process underway
- PIA majority stake sold in a landmark privatisation after decades
- A pipeline of additional SOEs is actively moving through restructuring/privatisation
Governance and discipline
Alongside transactions:
- SOEs classified Green / Amber / Red for prioritised action
- Professional boards and independent directors appointed
- Audit backlogs flagged and enforced
- IFRS transition timelines set
- Hard budget constraints being introduced
This is about changing incentives and enforcing discipline.
Bottomline
The FY25 report shows the scale of legacy challenges – loss concentration, debt and pensions – but also confirms that execution is already underway.
With transparency established and major fiscal drags already being addressed, Pakistan’s SOE reform agenda is already shifting from diagnosis to delivery, strengthening public finance sustainability through real, visible action.
Sohail Majeed is a Special Correspondent at The Diplomatic Insight. He has twelve plus years of experience in journalism & reporting. He covers International Affairs, Diplomacy, UN, Sports, Climate Change, Economy, Technology, and Health.
