How Pakistan's generals and rulers become billionaires as country creaks under record debt

Pakistan is getting poorer and poorer.

It is no secret that the country is currently buried under a mountain of debt.

Prices are increasing, the standards of living are dropping and the common man is suffering.

Since 1984, Islamabad has sought a bailout from the International Monetary Fund nearly two dozen times.

However, Pakistan’s financial situation does not seem to apply to its elite – the generals and rulers – many of whom have become billionaires.

Let’s take a closer look:

Pakistan’s debt

On Monday, the Pakistan Economic Survey 2024-2025 revealed some not so surprising news.

The country is in a dire financial situation.

As of March 2025, Pakistan is currently burdened with highest debt level ever – $269.344 million (Rs 23.1 trillion in Indian Rupees).

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“Total public debt stood at Rs 76,007 billion by end-March 2025, with domestic debt at Rs 51,518 billion and external debt at Rs 24,489 billion ($87 billion). During July–March FY2025, interest expense on public debt totaled Rs 6,439 billion, comprising Rs 5,783 billion on domestic debt and Rs 656 billion on external debt,” an excerpt from the survey read.

The level of debt was around Rs 11 trillion in 2020-2021 – which means the debt has ballooned to almost double in just the past four years.

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Meanwhile, a decade ago, that figure was just around Rs 2 trillion.

Which means that the debt has increased over five times since 2015.

The Economic Survey warned that “excessive or poorly managed debt can pose serious vulnerabilities, such as rising interest burdens and can undermine long-term fiscal sustainability and economic security if left unaddressed."

“The growth in public debt during the first nine months of FY 25 was 6.7 per cent," the survey added.

Meanwhile, the fiscal deficit was seen at 2.6 per cent of GDP during the first three quarters of the fiscal year.

Inflation was officially noted at 4.6 per cent for the fiscal.

Meanwhile the generals and politicos who run Pakistan seem to be stuffing their pockets**.**

Generals, politicos prosper

Asim Munir

As Pakistan army chief, Asim Munir is arguably the most powerful man in the country.

While his personal net worth is reportedly pegged at a meagre $800,000 — around Rs 6.7 crore – he has his hand in much bigger pies.

Recently promoted to field marshal in the aftermath of India’s Operation Sindoor, Munir sits at the heart of Pakistan’s biggest commercial enterprise – the military.

The military is said to have massive holdings in real estate and runs massive conglomerates in fields such as cement, banking, dairy, transport and fertilisers.

Some estimate that the Pakistan army’s businesses could be valued between $40 and 100 billion.

Qamar Javed Bajwa

Qamar Javed Bajwa, the former Pakistani army chief and Munir’s predecessor, was said to be a wealthy man at the time he left office.

Indeed, his family said to have amassed billions during his tenure as army chief.

Bajwa’s assets were pegged at Rs 12.7 billion in 2022, while his wife’s assets went from zero in 2016 to Rs 2.2 billion in six years.

Asif Ali Zardari

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari is said to have a net worth of around $1.8 billion.

Zardari, the co-chair of the Pakistan Peoples Party, is also one of the country’s top businessmen.

Zardari owns much agricultural land in Sindh as well as sugar mills and much real estate in Pakistan.

While he is officially said to have no property outside Pakistan, his three children are said to own real estate in Dubai.

Shehbaz Sharif

Shehbaz Sharif, who is the current Prime Minister of Pakistan, is one of the country’s wealthiest politicians.

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Sharif in 2015 had declared assets worth Rs 262 million prior to taking office for the second time.

This included properties in London valued at Rs 153 million and assets in Pakistan including real estate, agricultural land and bank accounts valued at Rs 108 million.

Nawaz Sharif

The former three-time Prime Minister of Pakistan claimed to have assets worth around rupees 47 million in 2025.

Interestingly he had declared his assets were valued at Rs 500 million during the 2015-2016 polls.

However, others peg his net worth at closer to $1.8 billion.

Nawaz, as you will recall, was sentenced to a decade in prison and fined $10.5 million on corruption charges as a result of the Panama Papers scandal in in 2016.

The papers revealed that his children owned offshore companies and assets including luxury apartments in London’s tony Mayfair area that have been hidden from the authorities.

Sharif had claimed that he and his family were being targeted for “political aims" and argued that those “who use ill-gotten wealth don’t keep assets in their own names".

Sharif was also disqualified from office in 2017 by the Pakistani Supreme Court and received a lifetime ban from politics in 2018.

Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari

PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is a bonified billionaire.

Bhutto declared his assets to be valued at Rs 1.9 billion in 2025.

This includes properties in the UK & Dubai and Rs 1.24 billion he has loaned to companies.

Imran Khan

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2020 had declared his assets valued at Rs 24 million.

However, he did not include his 300-kanal villa in Bani Gala that he says was a gift.

He has claimed that he has inherited almost all his other properties including a house in Lahore’s Zaman Park, around 600 acres (4,800 kanals) of agricultural land and non-agricultural land.

Imran claimed he owned four goats and that he had no vehicle or property outside Pakistan.

He was said to have around rupees 18 million in his bank accounts.

Interestingly, according to papers filed with the Election Commission of Pakistan, Imran’s wife Bushra Bibi is wealthier than him.

Bibi’s net worth was pegged at Rs 43 million in 2020.

With inputs from agencies