Net Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Pakistan grew 34.8% during the first six months of the ongoing fiscal year (FY24), clocking in at $862.6 million, revealed State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data on Wednesday.

During July-December FY24, FDI inflows were $1,208.9 million against an outflow of $346.2 million.

Net FDI during the same period (July-December) of the previous fiscal year amounted to $640 million.

During December alone, net FDI amounted to $211.1 million, a 538% increase when compared with the same month of the previous year when it stood at $33.1 million.

On a month-on-month basis, FDI was up over 60%, in comparison to $131.4 million clocked in during November.

Meanwhile, during the first half of FY24, overall Chinese investment in the country declined by over 12%. However, China remained the largest investing country, accounting for 34% of the total share with a net FDI of $292.8 million compared with $333.1 million during the same period last year.

Hong Kong emerged as the second-largest investor with a net FDI of $191 million, compared with $118.4 million during the same period last year, an increase of 61.3% and accounting for 22% of the total share.

During 1HFY24, the power sector attracted the major share of investment i.e. 50% ($433.5 million) followed by oil & gas exploration ($129.8 million) and the financial business sector ($91.1 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.

Pakistan’s current account posted a significant surplus of $397 million in December 2023, in stark contrast to a deficit of $15 million recorded in November, revealed data released by the SBP on Wednesday.