Pakistan fetched some $710 million Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) during the first nine months of this fiscal year, ie, FY15. According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), during the period under review, FDI inflows posted a 20 percent surge, however overall FDI remained stable at the previous year''s level due to massive outflows.
Since the beginning of this fiscal year, FDI kept on moving downward and till February 2015 it witnessed a 1.4 percent decline, however now it is showing an increasing trend and slightly swelled by $1 million in July-March of FY15. FDI stood at $710.1 million during first nine months of this fiscal year compared to $709.1 million in the same period of last fiscal year (FY14). During the period under review, FDI inflows stood at $1.89 billion as against outflow of $1.18 billion.
Similarly, the second component of foreign investment in Pakistan, ie, portfolio investment rose by 182 percent or $65 million to $100.6 million in July-March of FY15 compared to $35.6 million in the corresponding period of FY14. Net inflows of foreign investment in Pakistan, comprising FDI, portfolio investment and foreign public investment reached $1.765 billion mark, depicting an increase of 119 percent.
Analysts said foreign public investment including Sukuk Bonds amounting to $954 billion during this fiscal year have largely contributed to post massive surge in the net inflows of foreign investment. FDI may witness an increasing trend in coming days, if government initiated its planned privatisation process, they added.