Pakistan reveals gifts received by political officials in the last 20 years

Pakistani government officials and politicians have received a myriad of gifts from prominent foreign figures over the past two decades, including 150 Rolex watches, armoured BMW cars and a 21-carat gilded crown, according to data released Tuesday.

According to statements released by the government last weekend confidentially, members of Pakistan's political and administrative elite have enjoyed a staggering list of luxury goods since 2002 as part of their jobs.

In Pakistan, government officials, MPs, and some senior administrative officials are required to declare the gifts they receive, but are allowed to keep the cheapest ones. They can also keep expensive gifts for a very small amount.

On Tuesday, Information Minister Mariam Aurangzeb announced that the government would impose a new restriction stating that gifts worth more than $300 can no longer be repurchased and kept.

Records show that former President Pervez Musharraf, who died in February, kept a $250 pearl necklace in 2006 for 750 rupees, just 11 euros at the exchange rate at the time.

In many States, gifts to diplomats are a symbolic exchange between cultures and are not personalized.

Former President Asif Ali Zardari received three armored vehicles two years after his wife, Benazir Bhutto, was killed in a suicide bombing in 2007.

The cars were priced at around $1.6 million, but Zardari paid only $240,<> to keep them.

In 2005, Prime Minister Shawkat Aziz kept a 21-carat gilded crown priced at $500 for a tenth of the amount.

Like dozens of others on this list of unnamed gift givers, former Prime Minister Imran Khan took advantage of that policy to buy a Rolex watch worth almost $32,2018 for $<>,<> in <>.