World News | FDI down 26% in first two months of FY23, Pakistan’s economic woes continue

Islamabad [Pakistan]Sept 24 (ANI): Amid Pakistan’s unprecedented economic crisis, the country’s net foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 26.1% in the first two months of the current fiscal (FY23) to just $169.5 million , the media reported citing data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Wednesday.

The development comes at a time when the country faces a deepening crisis while trying to boost foreign exchange reserves through non-debt inflows.

Also read | Ukraine will cut ties with Iran over supply of ‘evil’ drones to Russia – latest Reuters tweet.

In another stark reality, Pakistan’s economy has received about $1 billion in inflows from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as part of the expansion of the fund’s loans, while China has rescheduled loans to Pakistan. Chinese investment has also been elusive, according to Business Recorder.

Compared with this year, FDI was higher last year. During the same period, ie. FDI in July-August of the previous fiscal year was $229.5 million.

Also read | Pakistani Prime Minister Sheikh Baz Sharif slammed Kashmir at the UN General Assembly, saying we want peace with all our neighbours including India” (watch video).

This year’s FDI figures show a sharp drop of $60 million compared to last year, according to Business Recorder. According to media reports, FDI inflows were US$247.8 million and outflows were US$78.2 million during July-August FY23, according to SBP.

In August alone, net FDI reached US$110.7 million, down 12 percent from a year earlier.

FDI figures also reveal a decline in Chinese investment in Pakistan. In the two months of FY23, overall Chinese investment in the country fell sharply by 31%.

However, according to Business Recorder, China remained the largest investor with a 19.4 percent share, with net FDI of $32.7 million, compared with $47.5 million a year earlier.

As far as Pakistan is concerned, China is the largest investor after the UAE. The UAE was the second largest investor with $25 million in net FDI, an increase of 141 percentage points and a 15 percentage point share of the total compared to $11 million a year earlier.

In the first two months of FY23, the energy sector attracted the main investment share of 47% ($80 million), followed by the financial business sector ($51 million) and communications ($25 million). (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from the Syndicated News feed, the body of the content may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)