Qatar Wants to 'Take Over' Pakistan's Airports

Pakistan Finance Minister Miftah Ismail has said that Qatar is "interested in leasing Pakistan's airports". He was addressing a press conference in Islamabad on Friday. Miftah said that Qatar is going to invest in seaports, LNG plants, and solar power plants, Samaa TV reported. They are also interested in entering the Pakistan Stock Exchange, he said. He denied media reports about handing over New York's Roosevelt Hotel and Pakistan International Airline. He said these topics did not come under discussion. His statement comes a day after Pak 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 (IMF) 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. It increases the per unit price of electricity by Rs 7, he said. 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. This would cost us almost Rs 21 billion, he added. He also said that a committee has been constituted to consider reduction for the consumers using 200 to 300 units. (IANS)

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