Net Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Pakistan grew 8.1% during the first five months of the ongoing fiscal year (FY24), clocking in at $656.1 million, revealed State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data on Monday.

During July-November FY24, FDI inflows were $942.8 million against an outflow of $286.7 million.

Net FDI during the same period (July-November) of the previous fiscal year amounted to $606.9 million.

During November alone, net FDI amounted to $131.4 million, a 12% increase when compared with the same month of the previous year when it stood at $117 million.

On a month-on-month basis, FDI was up 7%, in comparison to $122.46 million clocked in October.

Meanwhile, during five months of FY24, overall Chinese investment in the country declined by over 7%. However, China remained the largest investing country, accounting for 35.5% of the total share with a net FDI of $232.7 million compared with $250.4 million during the same period last year.

Hong Kong emerged as the second-largest investor with a net FDI of $129.2 million, compared with $85.9 million during the same period last year, an increase of 50.4% and accounting for 20% of the total share.

During 5MFY24, the power sector attracted the major share of investment i.e. 51% ($333.5 million) followed by oil & gas exploration ($79.1 million) and the financial business sector ($71.1 million).

The development comes at a time when the country faces a shortage of dollars as it makes efforts to increase foreign exchange reserves through non-debt-creating inflow.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s current account posted a surplus of $9 million in November 2023. This is also in stark contrast to the deficit of $157 million recorded in the same month of the previous year, revealed data released by the SBP on Monday.