Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood has warned the federal cabinet about the takeover of Roosevelt Hotel in New York by the authorities as the bailout hangs in the balance, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.
In an exclusive report, the TV channel, citing sources, shared the inside story of a cabinet meeting where Dawood shared the possible scenario with the colleagues.
The sources also said that the federal cabinet refused to endorse the decision taken by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) under which an amount of $142 million was approved for the hotel as financial assistance.
Earlier this month, the ECC had approved an amount of $142 million for the Pakistan International Airlines Investment Limited (PIA-IL) to address the financial challenges faced by the Roosevelt Hotel.
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The amount for the Roosevelt Hotel was approved on the recommendation of a committee constituted in an earlier meeting of the ECC, headed by the Planning Commission deputy chairman and comprising the law and justice, finance and aviation secretaries.
In July, the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation had decided against privatising the Roosevelt Hotel and said it would be run under a joint venture with the private sector.
The committee directed the Privatisation Commission to hire the services of a financial adviser to start the process for the transaction in light of a report by accounting firm Deloitte from July 2019 which recommended that “the highest and best use of the Roosevelt Hotel property is to redevelop the site into a mixed-use [property] (through a joint venture) of primarily an office tower over retail and condominium.”
Later, a top PIA official informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on Privatisation on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump had shown interest in buying the Roosevelt Hotel.
Waqas Azeem reported this news for 24NewsHD TV channel.