Maryam Nawaz Sharif

Chief Minister of Punjab — Government of Punjab (Pakistan)

About Maryam Nawaz Sharif

Key facts Role: Chief Minister of Punjab Organisation: Government of Punjab (Pakistan) Country: Pakistan Sector: Politics & Government Headline figures: 2026-27 budget of Rs5.903 trillion; province of 127.7 million people Maryam Nawaz Sharif governs more people than most heads of state. As Chief Minister of Punjab she runs Pakistan's most populous province, home to 127.7 million people at the 2023 census. In her third budget, unveiled in June 2026, she tied the province's finances to Pakistan's International Monetary Fund commitments. The budget promised a cash surplus of about Rs910 billion, even as she kept up the pace of hospital, transport and welfare announcements that have become the signature of her administration. The budget As chief executive of the Punjab government, Maryam controls a budget of Rs5.903 trillion for 2026-27, including Rs750 billion for education and Rs500.8 billion for health (Dawn, 17 June 2026). Her government also cut the provincial Annual Development Programme by about 40 per cent to Rs752 billion to generate the surplus. It included a Rs546 billion grant to the federal government for the first time, a sign of how closely provincial and federal finances are now managed together. Dawn noted that the budget documents "lack full transparency" on the scale of the development cut, while the government insisted no new tax burden had been placed on the public. Health spending Health is where she is most visibly spending political capital. On 26 September 2026 she approved a medical college and teaching hospital in Mianwali, a cancer hospital in Dera Ghazi Khan and a 268-bed cardiology institute in Gujranwala, and ordered health projects across the province completed early (Radio Pakistan; Pakistan Today, 26 September 2026). Officials told the meeting that revamped rural health centres had treated more than 7.8 million patients. Earlier in September she inaugurated an electric bus service in Multan. Scrutiny September also brought scrutiny. A Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf member of the Punjab Assembly, Waqas Mahmood Maan, filed an adjournment motion over the reported use of a provincial government aircraft for a private family trip to London. His notice cited media reports that about Rs12.5 million had been spent on fuel, parking and related costs; The Express Tribune noted that the claims had not been independently verified (12 September 2026). Maryam rejected the criticism. She said she had paid Rs27.5 million herself for the use of the plane, and she displayed what she described as the payment receipt. She also argued that the aircraft belongs to the chief minister's office and that all four provincial chief ministers have one (Dawn, 18 September 2026). Background Maryam is the daughter of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the niece of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The dynasty is central to her power. She rose through the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz as a party organiser and vice-president. In July 2018 an accountability court convicted her in the Avenfield properties reference. The Islamabad High Court set aside that conviction and acquitted her on 29 September 2022 (Dawn, 29 September 2022). On 26 February 2024 the Punjab Assembly elected her the province's first woman chief minister with 220 votes, after the opposition Sunni Ittehad Council boycotted the vote (Radio Pakistan). Her influence reaches well beyond Lahore. Punjab dominates Pakistan's economy and parliament, and as the Sharif family's political heir she is widely seen as a future national leader. That makes her one of the most closely watched politicians in South Asia. What to watch: whether the development cut slows the flagship projects she has promised, how the aircraft controversy plays out in the Assembly, and her role in the PML-N's national plans ahead of the next general election. She ranks eighth because she has direct executive control over Pakistan's largest province and its multi-trillion-rupee budget, and because she is heir to the country's most powerful political family. Sources Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Census 2023, Table 1 – Punjab (population 127,688,922) Dawn, PUNJAB BUDGET 2026-27: Punjab eyes Rs910bn surplus in Rs5.9tr budget , 17 Jun 2026 Radio Pakistan, CM Maryam approves establishment of new hospitals in Punjab , 26 Sep 2026 Pakistan Today, CM Maryam orders early completion of health projects across Punjab , 26 Sep 2026 The Express Tribune, PA seeks answers over CM's aircraft use for private visit , 12 Sep 2026 Dawn, Maryam defends use of official aircraft for London trip , 18 Sep 2026 Dawn, IHC sets aside Maryam and Capt Safdar's 2018 conviction in Avenfield case , 29 Sep 2022 Radio Pakistan, Maryam Nawaz sworn in as first-ever female CM of Punjab , 26 Feb 2024

Why this entry is on the list

She ranks eighth because she has direct executive control over Pakistan's largest province and its multi-trillion-rupee budget, and because she is heir to the country's most powerful political family. Punjab is home to 127.7 million people, and her 2026-27 budget totals Rs5.903 trillion.