ECC approves $142 million to pay off debt on Roosevelt Hotel

ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had approved $142 million funds for paying off debt on Roosevelt Hotel, ARY News reported on Wednesday.

The approval to allocate the funds for Roosevelt Hotel was given in the meeting chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Finance and Revenue Abdul Hafiz Shaikh.

The amount of $142 million has been approved for the monetary needs and maintenance of the hotel owned by the PIA in Manhattan, US, and it will take care of the loans, interests incurred and other payables of the hotel, read the statement of the meeting.

The allocation was approved after an assessment committee led by Deputy Chairman Planning Development furnished its recommendations to the ECC.

Read: Pakistan to pay entire debt on Roosevelt Hotel

It is pertinent to mention here that the Roosevelt Hotel was suffering from a financial crisis due to coronavirus pandemic in New York, which witnessed the closure of 93 hotels due to the pandemic recently.

The government needed more money to run affairs at the Roosevelt Hotel and it was later suggested from the aviation minister that the country should pay-off the entire debt on its own rather than seeking further loans and paying interests against it.

The ECC also deliberated the issue of quarterly tariff adjustments for  K-Electric consumers on all the for the period of July 2016 to March 2019.

Read: ECC approves hike in power tariff for K-Electric consumers

The ECC of the cabinet on Wednesday approved an increase of up to Rs1.09 per unit in the tariff for K-Electric on account of quarterly adjustments

It approved the tariff adjustment of eleven quarters of this period after which, the statement reads, KE tariffs will stand equal to the tariffs charged by other Distribution Companies (DISCOS)

It said that the first adjustment shall reflect in the month of October for the KE consumers.