Pakistanis' overseas wealth falls.

ISLAMABAD -- Pakistanis own just over $19 billion in offshore wealth, with more than half of it invested solely in Dubai's real estate, as per a new Global Tax Evasion report, reflecting a downward trend in the wealth held by Pakistanis abroad.

The report, produced by the EU Observatory, a body co-funded by the European Union (EU), also calls upon countries to impose a minimum 2% income tax on the world's billionaires, aimed at increasing their current meagre income tax contribution of just 0.3%. The report suggests that imposing a 2% minimum tax could generate $250 billion in annual revenues from less than 3,000 billionaires worldwide who collectively hold $13 trillion in wealth but paid a mere $44 billion in personal tax last year.

The Global Tax Evasion report reveals that Pakistanis held $19.2 billion in offshore assets. This figure comprises $8 billion in cash, shares, bonds, and investments, along with an additional $11.2 billion invested in the real estate sector. This amount is equivalent to 3.6% of Pakistan's Gross Domestic Product in 2022.

In terms of offshore wealth, Pakistanis held $8 billion in the form of equities, bonds, mutual fund shares, and bank deposits in 2022. Of this amount, the maximum, $4 billion, is held in Asian tax havens, followed by $2 billion in European tax havens, $1 billion in Switzerland, and $910 million in American tax havens. There has been a reduction of $1.1 billion in the wealth owned by Pakistanis abroad when compared to 2021. The reduction is primarily associated with assets held in Asian tax havens, which decreased from $5 billion to $4 billion.

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Switzerland once held the highest amount of assets owned by Pakistanis, reaching $19 billion in 2007, but by 2016, this had dwindled to $2 billion, coinciding with the year of significant political change in Pakistan following the Panama leaks. This suggests that Pakistanis may have shifted their wealth from Switzerland to primarily Asian tax havens. In 2007, just over half a billion dollars was parked in Asian havens, a figure that swelled to $5 billion in 2021 before falling to $4 billion last year.

The report also covers the loss of revenues resulting from profit shifting by multinational companies. As of 2020, Pakistan suffered a $430 million loss in revenue due to profit shifting by these companies, with the bulk of this, $310 million, attributed to the shifting of profits to non-EU tax havens...