As part of an austerity drive undertaken by Pakistan’s newly elected Prime Minister Imran Khan, his office has announced the auction of multiple assets to raise funds. The auction is scheduled to take place on September 17.

As part of the auction list, the Pakistan PM’s office announced its intention to dispose off 80 surplus vehicles which includes about two dozen or so luxury cars. The vehicles include eight BMWs, three cars of 2014 model and three 5000cc SUVs and two 3000cc SUVs of 2016 model. The list also includes four Mercedes Benz cars of 2016 model. Two of them are 4,000cc bullet-proof vehicles.

The list includes four bullet-proof Land Cruiser vehicles of 2015 model which will go under the hammer. Apart from these, there are an assortment of 16 Toyota cars, three Suzuki cars and a Honda.

The Pakistan government also plans to auction four helicopters which it says has been lying unused with its cabinet division.

The surprise package that will go under the hammer are eight buffaloes housed in Islamabad for Nawaz Sharif’s ‘dietary requirements’. The breed of the buffaloes with the Pakistan government are not known but a good breed like the murrah buffaloes in India fetch anywhere from Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1.5 lakhs.

Since being elected as prime minister, Imran Khan has launched an austerity drive – first announcing that he will not live in the palatial prime minister’s house followed by severing the services of over 500 servants in the house. Criticising what he called the colonial-era mindset and lavish lifestyles of Pakistan’s ruling elite, Khan announced he would live in a small three-bedroom house and allow the palatial prime minister’s residence be turned into an educational institute.

Pakistan’s economic woes are wide-ranging with crippling debt, an extremely weak currency and over dependence on exports. Pakistan is expected to request the IMF for another loan to furbish some of its liquidity requirements.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 17, 2018 06:01 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).