Inflow of foreign investment in the country has yet to pick up pace, but outflows in the shape of profits and dividends have surged.
A report issued by the State Bank said yesterday that the outflows (dividend and profit) on foreign investments during July-November 2014-15 rose to $606 million which was about 30 per cent higher than the foreign direct investment (FDI) in the same period last fiscal year.
In November, the country received just $20m FDI while repatriation in the shape of profits and dividends stood at $200.9m.
Government’s efforts to attract foreign investment, particularly from China, may be commendable, but actual inflows have yet to materialise, the official data confirms.
The foreign investment in the first five months of this fiscal year was $422m, which was slightly better than last year’s $354m.
However, most of the investment was focused in few sectors, like oil and gas exploration, power sector, telecommunications and financial business.