World Business Report - Pakistani auctions its state airline live on TV

Download Pakistani auctions its state airline live on TV

In Pakistan, the government has sold its national carrier, PIA, in an auction which was televised live. The airline sold for $482 million. Gideon Long speaks to Muhammad Ali, the privatisation adviser to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

We hear from two countries at the sharp end of Donald Trump’s tariffs over the past year - India, which is on 50% US export tariffs, and South Africa facing 30%.

And in the UK there is a blue and smelly cheese called Stilton which many people traditionally eat at Christmas. In fact 40% of sales are in the six weeks before Christmas. But its makers are on a mission to change all that and make Stilton a year round nibble.

(PHOTO: View of a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) passenger plane at Islamabad International Airport, Pakistan October 3, 2023. Credit: REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo)

Published on Wednesday, 24th December 2025.

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