Pakistan’s foreign direct investment drops by 27pc

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) declined by 27.4 percent during the July-Jan 2021 period of the current fiscal year.

According to the latest State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data, Pakistan fetched FDI amounting to $1,145.3 million in July-Jan of FY21 compared to $1,577 million in the same period of the last fiscal year (FY20), depicting a decline of $431.7 million.

The SBP’s statistics revealed that FDI fell significantly by 12.27 percent or $27 million to $192.7 million in Jan 2021 compared to net inflow of $219.6 million investment in Jan 2020.

The major chunk of the recent foreign investment was contributed by China, which is remained the largest investor with over 35 percent share in overall FDI. China’s net FDI stood $402.8 million during Jul- Jan 2021 of this fiscal.

Netherlands is the second largest investing country with net FDI of $122 million and Hong Kong ranked third with an investment of $105.2 million into Pakistan during July-Jan of FY21. Major investment was poured in Power sector amounted to $450.4 million followed by financial business sector $181.3 million and Oil & Gas Explorations Sector $136.7 million.

During the period under review, total foreign investment in Pakistan, comprising foreign direct investment, portfolio investment and foreign public investment, declined 78 percent or $2,683.2 million to $755 million in the period Jul-Jan 2021.