ISLAMABAD, June 19 -- Defence Minister Khawaja Asif has said that Pakistan could have avoided losses worth hundreds of billions of rupees if the state-owned Pakistan Steel Mills had been shut down decades ago, stressing the need for timely privatisation of loss-making public enterprises.

Speaking on programme, Asif argued that delays in restructuring and privatising state-owned entities have placed a heavy burden on the national exchequer. He said Pakistan Steel Mills continued to incur massive financial losses over the years and claimed that closing the facility in 1991 could have prevented the accumulation of losses running into hundreds of billions of rupees.

The minister also highlighted the case of Pakistan International Airlines (...