Islamabad: The economy of Pakistan, which is facing a financial crisis, has gone from bad to worse. The situation has become so bad that Pak is craving every single pie. The situation has become such that, for money, the Imran Khan government has now started renting out the buildings of the ministries and the houses of the ministers. In this sequence, the Pakistan government has decided to rent out the prime minister’s official residence in Islamabad.
In August 2019, the ruling Tehreek-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government announced that the Prime Minister’s house would be converted into a university. After this announcement, PM Imran Khan had vacated the residence. Sama TV reported that the federal government has now abandoned the plan and decided to rent out the property.
Sama TV quoted its sources as saying that, the federal cabinet, which had earlier announced a state-of-the-art federal educational institution in the Prime Minister’s House. He has now decided to allow people to organize cultural, fashion, educational, and other events. The PM residence is located in the Red Zone, the most high-profile area of Islamabad.
Sama TV said, “Two committees have been constituted for this purpose. They will be responsible for ensuring that the discipline and decorum of PM House are not violated during the programs.
According to local media, the federal cabinet will meet and discuss ways to raise revenue from the PM House building. Funds can be raised by renting out the auditorium of the Prime Minister’s residence, two guest wings, and a lawn. There will also be high-level diplomatic events, international seminars at the former chief workplace of the Pakistani Prime Minister.
Imran Khan had announced after taking over as the country’s prime minister that the government of Pakistan did not have money to spend on public welfare schemes, while some in the country were “living like our colonial masters”. Since then he has been staying at his Bani Gala residence and uses only the PM’s office.
Pakistan’s economy has shrunk by $19 billion in the last three years since Khan came to power. When he became the PM, he took many drastic steps to cut government expenditure to give relief to the country’s economy. Earlier, former finance minister Miftah Ismail had attacked, saying that the Imran Khan-led regime was “playing with the economy”. He had said that “Khan has increased the debt of government and state institutions by Rs 45,000 billion.”
