Amid ailing economy, Imran Khan to mortgage Islamabad’s biggest park

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is considering mortgaging Islamabad’s biggest park to get a loan of around Rs 500 billion in order to get over the economic turmoil the country id facing.

The proposal to mortgage the F-9 park to get a loan of around Rs 500 billion will be included in the agenda of the next meeting of the federal cabinet, scheduled to be held on Tuesday.

The meeting will be held via video conference arranged at the Prime Minister’s House and a committee room of the Cabinet Division, according to a media report.

The F-9 park, named after Madar-i-Millat Fatima Jinnah is stretched over 759 acres of land. It is one of the largest covered green areas in Pakistan.

This comes amid declining relations of Pakistan with its two biggest sources of foreign remittances and foreign exchange — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Last August, Saudi Arabia asked Pakistan to repay early a USD 3 billion soft loan, Islamabad tried to defuse the tensions by quickly dispatching its current army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

However, Saudi Arabia did not budge from its demand.

The UAE, which is Pakistan’s second-largest source of foreign remittances, has recently banned issuing work visas for Pakistani workers. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi’s recent visit to the UAE failed to lift the ban, to Islamabad’s severe disappointment.