PIA’s Roosevelt Hotel leased out to NYC for three years against $220m

The government has finally leased out its precious asset in the United States —Roosevelt Hotel, a property of the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) — to the New York City Administration for a period of three years against USD 220m. A contract has also been signed between the government and the NYC administration/government, according to Federal Minister for Railways and Aviation Khawaja Saad Rafique. “After various exhaustive exercises, we finally succeeded in finding a way out to overcome the challenges to the country’s most precious asset/heritage in New York (USA). So we have signed a contract with the NYC administration that will operate the hotel for a period of three years. Under this contract, we will receive US $220m that will enable us to clear the hotel’s various liabilities besides earning handsome revenue for our country’s treasury,” the minister said while talking to journalists at a press conference here on Sunday.