Pakistan PM Sharif retains billionaire status despite decline in fortune

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has retained his billionaire status with his declared assets standing at Rs1.72 billion in 2016 despite decline in his fortune, making him one of the richest lawmakers in the country.

Sharif continues to receive substantial amounts from his son Hussain who is doing business in Saudi Arabia despite a controversy surrounding the Panama Papers Leaks that dragged the ruling family to the courts.

According to the statements of assets of lawmakers, released by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) yesterday, the prime minister owned assets worth Rs 261.6 million in 2012, but that saw a six-fold increase and reached Rs 1.82 billion in 2013 - the first year of his third stint as the country’s chief executive, making him a declared billionaire for the first time.

In 2014, his assets crossed the two billion-mark, but in 2015 declined slightly to Rs 1.96 billion. Earlier in 2011, he owned assets worth Rs 166 million, the Dawn reported.

The value of his assets has further declined to Rs 1.72 billion in the year that ended on June 30, 2016.

Sharif owns a Toyota Land Cruiser, gifted to him by an unspecified individual, as well as two Mercedes cars.

The house he lives in is owned by his mother and he has multiple foreign and local currency accounts, huge swathes of agricultural land and investments in industrial units such as sugar, textile and paper mills.

Sharif declared in 2015 for the first time ownership of birds and animals worth Rs 2 million, which are valued at Rs 5 million, the daily said.

The Sharif family’s estate in Raiwind is priced at Rs 4 million, while his property in Lahore’s Upper Mall area is said to be worth over Rs 250 million.

The prime minister is one of the richest lawmakers of the country.

Another prominent billionaire lawmaker in Pakistan is Sharif’s rival and vociferous critics Imran Khan, chief of Pakistan Tehrek-e-Insaf (PTI), whose declared assets valued at Rs 1.4 billion.

The cricketer-turned-politician told the ECP that he sold the only vehicle registered in his name last year.

In 2015, Imran had declared the value of his total assets at Rs 1.026 billion. The value of his residence in Islamabad’s Bani Gala suburbs of Islamabad is Rs 750 million.

The value of his family home in Zaman Park in Lahore stands at Rs 29 million.