The request of Rs 16 billion bailout package was submitted to the ECC by the management of PIA. The Finance Minister and other participants were not convinced to approve the request during hours long briefing and discussion on the issue. An official said the plan to buy 10 new aeroplanes was deferred till the next meeting.
The meeting decided to release Rs 7 billion to PIA after the management of PIA reportedly informed the ECC that the amount was quite old on account of equipment purchase. A press release stated that the agenda of the meeting was to look into the matters pertaining to PIAC and a comprehensive briefing was given to the participants of the meeting about current state of affairs of PIA.
The ECC decided to release Rs 7 billion to PIA to make payments to its vendors. It was further decided that a comprehensive briefing on PIA will be made to ECC in its next meeting. The meeting was attended by Minister for Industries and Production Ghulam Murtaza Jatoi, Minister for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, Senator Pervez Rashid, Minister for National Food Security and Research, Sikandar Hayat Bosan, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Minister for Planning and Development, Ahsan Iqbal Minister for Water and Power, Khawaja Mohammad Asif, Minister for Science and Technology Zahid Hamid, Adviser to Prime Minister on Aviation, secretaries of various divisions and heads of different departments.