Premie­r descri­bes hotel in New York as an import­ant histor­ical buildi­ng owned by stateISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has turned down a proposal of selling Roosevelt Hotel, New York to clear debt of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The prime minister was also informed that the hotel was also going into loss and therefore it should be sold out. Earlier, PIA had come up with a plan of transferring assets — including Roosevelt Hotel — to pay off Rs352 billion to clear balance sheet of the national carrier in an attempt to make the organisation financially viable. In Monday’s meeting, the proposal was submitted to the premier to sell Roosevelt Hotel to clear the debt. The prime minister stated that the government considers Roosevelt Hotel as an important historical building owned by the state and that its divestment is not an option.

Source: The Express Tribune December 11, 2017 16:44 UTC