Karachi: Foreign direct investment (FDI) into Pakistan fell by eight per cent to $824 million during the first 10 months (July-April) of this fiscal year, the State Bank said on Monday.
The second financial year under the Nawaz government is closing without any improvement in FDI trend, and it seems the country’s economic managers, in their attempt to attract Chinese investment, have kept the entire world out of their investment strategy.
According to the SBP, the portfolio investment showed a tremendous growth, rising to $841m from $153m last year, pushing up the overall foreign private investment by 58pc to $1.666bn. Pakistan has been the lowest recipient of FDI inflows among the regional countries.
One of the major obstacles in attracting foreign investment is the country’s image, tarnished by terrorism which is still not under control. Even domestic investors have been demanding for more efforts to bring the law and order situation to normal, particularly in Karachi, the financial hub of the country.
Highest FDI during the 10 months was received from the United States ($211m), followed by China ($203m).
The government has been showing great enthusiasm regarding the Chinese investments, but the amount is not attractive so far. The government has signed $45bn agreement with China and expects that a large part of this amount would land into the energy sector within three to five years.
However, there is no effort to attract investment from other countries despite the fact regional countries like India and Bangladesh are receiving much more FDI than Pakistan.
