By Farouq Suleiman
LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, and his wife Akshata Murthy were included in a list of the 250 wealthiest British residents published by a national newspaper today.
Sunak's inclusion is largely a result of his wife's wealth, but comes at a politically difficult time for the man in charge of Britain's budget as he faces pressure to increase support for households struggling with soaring energy bills and food prices.
The couple entered The Sunday Times UK Rich List at number 222 with a reported net worth of 730 million pounds (about R14.6 billion) the Sunday Times newspaper said. The list's compilers say their analysis is based on minimum estimates of identifiable wealth.
Akshata Murthy, an Indian citizen, is the daughter of one of the founders of Indian IT giant Infosys and owns about 0.9% of the company.
Sunak, a former Goldman Sachs analyst who became chancellor aged 39 in 2020, earlier this week warned the country that the"next few months will be tough."
Sunak and Murthy faced criticism and public anger last month over Murthy's "non-domiciled" tax status which meant she did not pay tax in Britain on her earnings abroad. She subsequently gave up the status and said she would pay British tax on her global income.
The Sunday Times Rich List, first published in 1989, ranks the 1 000 wealthiest people resident in Britain. It includes British citizens as well as individuals and families from overseas but who predominantly work or live in the UK.
The Indian-born Hinduja brothers, Sri and Gopi, topped the list with a net worth of more than 28 billion pounds.
"There are some people who approach us wanting to be put onto the Rich List every year. Mr Sunak wasn't one of those," list compiler Robert Watts, told Sky News.
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