Pakistan Islamabad Airport: Pakistan’s Aviation Minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq said that Islamabad Airport will be given to a private company for 15 years to improve its operational activities. Khwaja Saad Rafiq has said that bidding will be done for this, the highest bidder will be given the opportunity to operate the airport. They say that this process will benefit the Pakistani national treasury.

This has come to the fore at a time when Pakistan is facing a huge economic crisis with high inflation and depleting foreign exchange reserves. Although the minister has claimed that this step is not equal to privatization, but its purpose is to bring skilled operators to increase the operation of the airport.

plan for islamabad airport
Khwaja Saad Rafiq said that this process will be beneficial, which will benefit the national exchequer. He informed that International Finance Corporation will act as advisor and also the minister said that 12 to 13 companies have already shown interest in the bidding process. He has assured that the process will be transparent and will follow all the rules. However, Khwaja Saad Rafiq has said that runway and navigation operations will not be included in the outsourcing process.

Why this step is needed in Pakistan
This action has come to the fore after the IMF approved a bailout of US $ 3 billion to Pakistan to avoid default in its loan payments. Apart from this, Pakistan has also received financial assistance of US $ 1 billion and US $ 2 billion from the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia respectively.

This IMF deal has happened after a delay of eight months, due to which Pakistan has got some relief. But Pakistan faced its worst economic crisis in decades as Pakistan grapples with an economic crisis amid a severe balance of payments crisis and depleting foreign exchange reserves.

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