New Delhi: The Pakistan Prime Minister has found an odd way to help his country with the ongoing financial crisis it is currently under. PM Imran Khan's official residence will now be available to rent for weddings, fashion shows, and other such social events.
In August 2019, the ruling party Tehreek-Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had announced that the party intends to convert the Prime Minister's house into a university following which the Prime Minister vacated the premises and moved to his Bani Gala residence but he was using the office.
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The federal cabinet, which had earlier announced a state-of-the-art federal educational institution at the Prime Minister House has, according to sources cited by local media now decided to allow people to hold cultural, fashion, educational, and other events at the premises located at the Red Zone, Islamabad. The federal government has now dropped the plan of the university and decided to instead rent out the property, Samaa TV reported.
Two committees will be set up for the same who will have the responsibility to ensure that there is decorum at the PM's residence.
According to local media, the federal cabinet will meet and discuss ways to garner revenue from the PM House building. The idea is that the auditorium of the Prime Minister's House, two guest wings, and a lawn will be rented out to generate funds. High-level diplomatic functions, international seminars will also be held at the former principal workplace of the Pakistani premier.
Pakistan's economy has shrunk by USD 19 billion in the last three years since Khan came to the power. In order to give respite to the country's economy, he had implemented new measures to reduce the government's spending.
The former finance minister Miftah Ismail, saying that the PTI administration was "toying with the economy" adding that government and state institutions' loans had been raised by Rs 45,000 billion since Imran Khan took over.
After taking office, Khan announced that the government doesn't have money to spend on the public welfare schemes, while some in the country are "living like our colonial masters used to live".