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ISLAMABAD: The federal government is considering mortgaging Islamabad’s biggest park in F-9 sector to secure a loan of around Rs500 billion.
The proposal has been included in the agenda of the meeting of the federal cabinet scheduled to be held on Tuesday. The meeting will be held through video link conference system arranged at Prime Minister’s House and a committee room of the Cabinet Division.
The agenda item no six, moved by the Finance Division, is “Issuance of Domestic and International Ijara Sukuk Against Unencumbered Land of F-9 Park, Islamabad”.
The government has decided to mortgage the F-9 park of the federal capital to get a loan of about Rs500bn through issuing bonds due to the financial crisis.
The Capital Development Authority has already issued a no-objection certificate in this regard. The F-9 park (Fatima Jinnah Park) is a public recreation park spread on 759 acres of land and is one of the largest covered green areas in Pakistan.
The Finance Ministry on Sunday clarified that Sukuk were Shariah-compliant borrowing instruments backed by physical assets, and was structured so as to pay returns on investment as rent instead of interest by utilizing an underlying asset.
According to a statement of the Finance Ministry, Sukuk is not only issued to support the budgetary position of the government but to promote Islamic banking finance in the country as well.
Earlier, a number of institutions, buildings and roads have been mortgaged during the tenures of successive governments to get loans through national and international bonds.
The government of Pakistan had issued Sukuk a number of times, which were backed by assets such motorways and Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. Earlier in 2019, the PTI government had issued Islamic Sukuk bonds amounting to Rs200 billion ($1.44 billion) for payment of circular debt against state-owned power companies.
