Business

Money inflow: FDI increases during July-November

Rise happens despite lower November figures.

Kazim Alam December 17, 2013

The oil and gas sector attracted the highest amount of FDI in the July-November period, it attracted a net foreign investment of $179.5 million. DESIGN: CREATIVE COMMON

KARACHI: Pakistan received foreign direct investment (FDI) of $330.7 million in the period July-November, which is 4.7% higher than $315.8 million it attracted in the corresponding five-month period in the last fiscal year.

However, FDI dropped 26% year-on-year to $47.1 million in November, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan. In the fiscal year 2012-13, Pakistan had received FDI worth over $1.4 billion.

The oil and gas sector attracted the highest amount of FDI in the July-November period. It attracted a net foreign investment of $179.5 million, which is 15.8% higher than the investment of $155 million it received in the corresponding five-month period in the previous fiscal year.

Improved net FDI in financial business ($64.2 million), chemicals ($61.7 million), tobacco and cigarettes ($45.2 million), food ($35.4 million) and automobile ($12.3 million) sectors led to the overall growth in FDI in the country during the five-month period, SBP data showed.

In contrast, a major dip in FDI was registered in the telecommunications sector, where a net outflow of $110.6 million was recorded in the period under review. Another sector that witnessed a considerable net outflow of FDI in July-November was electrical machinery ($11.1 million).

As for the foreign portfolio investment (FPI), which includes foreign public investment, Pakistan attracted only $68.2 million during the July-November period as opposed to $140.3 million in the corresponding period last year. This reflects a year-on-year decline of 51.3% in FPI.

Last week, SBP-held foreign exchange reserves declined to their 12-year low of $2.9 billion. According to analysts, one of the reasons behind the gradual downfall of foreign exchange reserves is unimpressive inflows of foreign investment.

Although FDI has witnessed an increase in recent months, its growth is less than satisfactory given the much-publicised efforts by the government to revive the economy.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2013.

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COMMENTS (1)

np | 10 years ago | Reply Selective partial facts can mislead. Yes, FDI grew by 4% but Foreign private investment crashed by 28% and Foreign portfolio investment is almost non-existent. http://www.dawn.com/news/1074728/low-fdi-adding-to-woes. So total foreign investment in the first 4 months actually reduced drastically.

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