• Statements of assets filed for fiscal year ending on June 30, 2020
• Details show PM has liability of Rs141.78 million
• Religious affairs minister’s asset is 1 tola gold owned by wife
• One PML-N lawmaker has only Rs773 in Pakistan
• Bilawal has more assets in UAE than Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The wives of both Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his predecessor, Imran Khan, are richer than their husbands, the statements of assets filed for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2020, with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) revealed.

Imran Khan owns four goats worth Rs200,000. He possesses six properties, the most prominent of which is his 300-kanal villa in Banigala. He also owns inherited properties, including a house in Lahore’s Zaman Park, around 600 acres of farm land as well as non-agricultural land.

Mr Khan neither owns a vehicle nor property outside Pakistan, does not have any investment, and has more than Rs60 million in bank accounts, apart from $329,196 and 518 pound sterlings in Pakistani foreign currency accounts.

His wife Bushra Bibi’s net worth is Rs142.11m. She owns four properties, including a house in Banigala.

Nusrat Shehbaz, the first wife of the incumbent PM, is also richer than her husband, and like Bushra Bibi does not own a vehicle.

Nusrat Shehbaz has wealth worth Rs230.29m and owns nine agricultural properties and one house each in Lahore and Hazara divisions. She has significant investments in various sectors.

But Shehbaz Sharif has wealth worth Rs104.21m with a liability of Rs141.78m. His assets include 495 kanals of agricultural land in Lahore and Sheikhupura. He owns two houses, one in Murree and the other in Lahore, while his residence in London is worth around Rs137.43m. He has investments in the country, possesses two vehicles and has been maintaining around Rs20m in bank accounts for several years.

The wealth of his second wife, Tehmina Durrani, has hovered around Rs5.76m for several years. She is in possession of the same car for the last couple of years.

Minister for Religious Affairs Mufti Abdul Shakoor has disclosed that his wife owns only one tola of gold.

Mufti Shakoor said neither he nor his family had a house, property or vehicle, did not have any investment and no other source of income. He only has Rs861,997 in his official bank account as an MNA.

Communications Minister Asad Mehmood has nothing to declare except some land in Multan valued at Rs5m and three tolas of gold belonging to his wife.

Ali Zahid, a parliamentarian belonging to PML-N from Sialkot, just has around Rs773 in Pakistan and an equivalent of Rs1,691 in a bank in the UK.

The wealth of Noor Alam Khan is constantly on the decline and for the fiscal year 2019-20 he has only shown a house in Peshawar, a two-kanal house in Islamabad, a 2019 model vehicle and Rs3m cash.

A few years ago, Mr Khan used to declare that his assets were worth Rs32 billion based on the value of his ancestral properties in KP.

PPP chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is among the declared billionaires, having a total wealth worth of Rs1.6bn. However, the bulk of his wealth remains outside the country.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari has more assets in the UAE than in Pakistan and his 25 properties and other assets in Dubai are worth Rs1.44bn, whereas in the country he has 19 agriculture and non-agriculture properties, around Rs122.14m cash in hand or banks and arms valued at Rs3m.

His father Asif Ali Zardari seems to have trimmed his wealth holdings and has offloaded his Dubai property, as it was not mentioned in the statement.

His wealth increased by around Rs40m to Rs714.23m in 2019-20 compared to the previous year. He owns thousands of acres of agricultural land, 20 horses, hundreds of camels, cows and buffaloes as well as other valuables. The arms he possesses are worth Rs16.6m.

Among the other billionaires are Ehsanul Haq Bajwa of PML-N who has a strong business base worth 65.9m dirhams in the UAE apart from a large land holding and other investments and assets in Pakistan.

Moonis Elahi, son of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi, has assets valued at Rs1.42bn while PTI’s Khayal Zaman Orakzai also joined the billionaire club with assets touching the Rs1bn mark.

Mohammad Yaqoob Sheikh of PTI from Dera Ismail Khan has a net worth of more than Rs1.47bn.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah has 13 properties in the country valued at Rs98m, owns one vehicle worth Rs7.5m and has around Rs16m cash in hand or in banks. His wife owns 100 tolas of gold.

Former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and his wife own two houses in Islamabad and 40 tolas of gold. He gifted his shares in Air Blue airline worth Rs60m to his son.

Published in Dawn, June 16th, 2022