ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP-P) appears to be the richest political party of the country with a bank balance of over Rs200 million, but the amount is much less than the expenditure of over Rs360m incurred by Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) in 2015.

According to the statements of assets submitted by political parties with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for 2015, Awami Muslim League led by former federal minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad is the poorest political party of the country having assets valuing a mere Rs138,000.

The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) led by Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari transferred an amount of Rs100m to the account of the PPP-P headed by his father Asif Ali Zardari during the year.

The statement shows that the PTI holds assets worth over Rs150m. The party incurred expenditures of Rs364.2m. Out of this, an amount of Rs6.6m was spent on election campaigns, Rs2.5m on advertisements and over Rs2.8m on recreation. The party has bank balance of more than Rs119m.

Read more: Jahangir Tareen: PTI's money man

ECP’s statistics show PTI spent Rs360m in 2015

The worth of Jamaat-i-Islami’s assets is more than Rs100m.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) holds assets valuing Rs47.5m. The MQM-Pakistan collected donations of more than Rs230m for “martyrs’ fund”. The party’s expenditures during the year exceed a quarter billion rupees.

The worth of assets belonging to the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid-i-Azam is more than Rs50m.

The ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz spent an amount more than double of its income during the year.

The party’s income was Rs16.5m while the spending crossed Rs40m. It also spent more on recreation than on party meetings. It spent Rs135,000 on party meetings and Rs145,000 on recreation during 2015.

The Awami National Party holds assets worth Rs28.2m. The Pakistan Awami Tehreek holds assets worth a little over Rs1m. The party’s income in 2015 was Rs18.7m while the expenditure stood at Rs17.9m. The income of Bilawal Bhutto-led PPP was Rs20m, while the expenses exceeded Rs120m.

Published in Dawn, April 7th, 2017