Is a time amid hardship resulting in loss of public assets? (13)
I believe the answer is:
privatisation
'loss of public assets?' is the definition.
(privatisation of public services)
'is a time amid hardship' is the wordplay.
'is a time' becomes 'sati' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'amid' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'hardship' becomes 'privation' (I've seen this before).
'sati' put inside 'privation' is 'PRIVATISATION'.
'resulting in' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for privatisation that I've seen before include "outsourcing services?" , "Transfer from public to private ownership" , "Government sell-off" , "way to get government money" .)