SOE Boards Fail, Losses Mount to Rs5.9 Trillion

Staff Report

Islamabad: The board members and ministerial representatives have failed to deliver and have skipped accountability that results in recurring multi-billion-rupee losses by State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).

This is a critical aspect that is being ignored. The poor affairs of the boards and ministries’ representatives have irked the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Over the past decade, the losses of SOEs have accumulated to around Rs 5.9 trillion. These SOEs included PIA, Pakistan Railways, and power distribution companies. They are repeat offenders.

During the past decade, not a single high-level board member has been held accountable for dereliction of duty or oversight failures.

Premier has directed federal ministries to tighten oversight and develop performance monitoring systems. Shahbaz Sharif has irked by the role of board nominees many of whom have been political appointees or bureaucrats.

They have little commercial acumen and remained largely unexamined. These individuals have been entrusted with safeguarding public interest and enforcing performance standards.

However, SOEs have continued to haemorrhage taxpayer money under their watch.

Insiders claim that most board meetings have remained a rubber-stamp exercise where there is no scrutiny of mismanagement, procurement violations, or delays in reform.

Officials said that no amount of KPIs or frameworks will stop the financial bleeding unless the government fixes the political economy of boardroom appointments.

Experts are of the view that government should introduce the public disclosure of board attendance, voting records, and performance-linked remuneration. Without transparency and consequences, the culture of impunity will continue and render reforms ineffective.

The real test for the government is not in issuing directives,” experts say, adding that it should ensure that SOE boards no longer serve as retirement homes for loyalists, but as professional platforms with performance-linked mandates. Electricity Bills in Summer