ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Finance Miftah Ismail disclosed today that Qatar is interested in obtaining Pakistani airports on lease along with investment in sea-ports, LNG and solar power sectors.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Friday, minister said that Qatar is going to invest in seaports, LNG plants, and solar power plants. During recent visit of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Qatar has announced a total of $3 billion investment in Pakistan.
Miftah said, Qatar is also interested in having a stake in Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX).
He dispelled media reports about sale of PIA’s New York’s Roosevelt Hotel and Pakistan International Airline to Qatar and said these topics did not come under discussion.
His statement comes a day after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif concluded his maiden official visit to the Gulf kingdom since assuming office in April.
The minister said that the meeting of the International Monetary Fund’s executive board is taking place on Monday which will approve the release of funds.
He claimed that Pakistan has already fulfilled all the pre-conditions for the disbursement of the loan tranche.
Miftah said that the Fuel Charges Adjustment (FCA) that came with the electricity bills of August was for the month of May, which increased per unit price of electricity by Rs7.
He said that the government has talked to the IMF about this and decided not to collect FCA from consumers using less than 200 units of electricity which would cost the government about Rs21 billion.
He also said that a committee has been constituted to consider reduction for the consumers using 200 to 300 units.
