Pak PM’s assets doubled to Rs 2 bn in four years

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is one of Pakistan’s richest politicians with declared personal assets in excess of Rs 2 billion, an increase of more than a billion in just four years.

According to data released by the Election Commission, Sharif has no assets abroad but receives significant amounts from his son Hussain Nawaz, who is settled in Britain.

The statements of assets for 2015 was released by the poll panel amid a controversy over the Panama Papers leaks, which showed Sharif ’s two sons and a daughter were among around 220 Pakistanis who own offshore assets.

The Election Commission had removed the information on the wealth of MPs from its website on the pretext that it is no longer a legal requirement to provide details of assets. On Thursday, the information was updated and put back on the website.

The website shows the value of assets owned by Sharif and his spouse at more than Rs2 billion.

The value of his assets in 2011 was Rs 166 million, which swelled to Rs 261.6 million in 2012 and then to Rs 1.82 billion in 2013, making him a declared billionaire.

In 2014, the value of his assets rose to Rs 2 billion. Sharif received more than Rs 215 million from his son Hussain Nawaz in 2015. He had previously received Rs 239 million and Rs 197. 5 million as remittances from his son in 2014 and 2013.

Sharif owns a Toyota Land Cruiser, which was gifted to him by an unspecified individual, and two Mercedes cars. He has multiple foreign and Pakistani currency accounts, huge tracts of agricultural land and investments in sugar, textile and paper mills.