PTI Govt decides to offer 100 prime properties for sale

Arshad Shehzad

Islamabad: The government of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has decided to offer 100 commercial properties at prime locations to local and overseas Pakistanis for sale to raise funds for national exchequer to boost dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

These properties at prime locations and suitable for sale would be handed over to the Privatisation Commission to market and sell to potential local and overseas Pakistanis. Huge taxpayers money is being spent on these assets and funds were being diverted from critical projects.

 Officials told that the government had indentified 324 commercial properties with huge economic value so far which included 112 federal properties. However, the remaining properties belong to provinces mainly from provinces of KPK and Punjab.

Officials said that there are huge economic assets which are either grabbed unlawfully or are lying idle and these assets need judicious use. In a bid to put commercial properties on sale, the government has formed a ministerial level committee to prepare a package to offer 100 properties to local and Pakistani overseas to raise funds.

The ministerial level committee comprised of the minister for privatization, finance, planning, development, Law and Justice, Railways, housing and works and special assistant to prime minister on overseas Pakistanis will function under guidance of the defense minister Pervez Khatak.

The committee will shortlist 100 properties with significant commercial value and develop packages for their marketing through the privatization Commission of Pakistan. While developing packages, overseas Pakistanis will also be kept in focus as a potential market. 

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has collected data of total 24,066 public properties. That data of public properties had been received from the federal government as well as from governments of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P).

These public properties fell in three categories – rest house, residence and federal government property. Urban properties are at prime locations with clear economic incentives while some of the rural properties could also serve as attractive destinations, especially in K-P. The government has priorities these properties and divided them into three categories. These assets would be privatised, leased and outsourced for public interest and commercial use by the public.