Country’s FDI dips by 42% to $439.5m in July-Sept 2018

Total foreign investment declines by 60.1% to $254.3m

KARACHI:  Direct Investment (DI) of the country declined by 42 per cent ($325.7m) in the first quarter (July-Sept 2018-19) of the current fiscal year and stood at $439.5 million compared to $762.2 million in same period last year, while total investment stood at 254.3 million after declining 60.1 per cent during the period.

In September 2018, the country had received $151.3 million only in the head of direct investment compared to $195 million in the same month last year.

The country received inflows of foreign direct investment of $610.4 million in last three months, while investors pulled back their $170.9 million during the period, the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said here Thursday.

Analyst said, “the overall situation of the economy is not good in Pakistan as the stock market had lost over 2000-3000 points in last 15-days.” People are still waiting for the policies of new government of Imran Khan who took charge in August, he added.

The analyst further claimed that Foreign Investment (FI) may like to be at lower side during next few months. The government, last week, has announced to go to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the financial assistance,” he claimed.

The market analysts further said that federal government has raised the gas charges and the regulatory duty on the import of 570 products, which will further hamper the country’s growth.

Foreign private investment of the country stood at $254.2 million down by 63 per cent during July-Sept compared to $687 million in the same period last year.

During the first quarter 2018-19, the SBP has recorded outflows of an amount of $185.3 million in the head Portfolio investment (Equity Securities), down by 137 per cent compared to last year outflows of $78.2 million in same period.

During the period, the SBP has received an amount of $0.1 million in the head of Foreign Public Portfolio Investment (Debt Securities), increasing by 100 per cent during July-Sept this year which was at negative $49.6 million in the same period last year, the data said.

The Chinese companies under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) invested an amount of $281 million in July-Sept 2018-19, while United Kingdom invested $51.2 million and Switzerland $39.6 million in Pakistan.

Major investment the country received are from USA ($25.2 m), Singapore ($16.5 m), Italy ($12.4 m), and Japan ($15.7 million) in different sectors, meanwhile Norway, Kuwait and Netherland pulled back their investment from Pakistan during the period.

The country received major investment in Construction ($189.3m), Manufacturing sector ($85.9 m), Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioners ($74.2m), and Financial and Insurance ($24.3m). Major outflows were recorded in Information and Communication ($31.43m), Accommodation and Food services ($18.1m) and Real Estate Activities ($0.2 m).

Pakistan has received an amount of $4.977 billion in the last fiscal year (2017-18) compared to $2.496 billion in 2016-17.

After touching the highest level of $24.6 billion in May 2017, the forex reserves had declined to below $14.613 billion on October 12, 2018. The stock market is being traded at around 37,000 point level for the last week.

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