Foreign direct investment increases by 51% to $258 million in March

The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Pakistan increased by 51.7 percent to $258 million in March, according to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). 

The latest statistics shared by the central bank showed a hike of over 50 percent on a month-on-month basis, up from $170 million in the same month last year. This is the highest inflow of FDI since June 2022.

However, the FDI inflows received by the county during the first nine months of the current fiscal year were slashed compared to the same period in the previous year.

According to the Central Bank, Pakistan's FDI dropped by 9.7 percent to $1.099bn, during July-March FY24, against an inflow of $1.217bn in the same period of last year.  

Pakistan receives around $2 billion in FDI annually, the lowest in the region. 

Notably, FDI inflows from China and the UAE were lower during this period.

The inflows from China decreased to $262 million in the first nine months of FY24 from $556.6 million in the corresponding period last year. The UAE inflows were $27.7 million, down from $88.7 million.

During July-March, Pakistan got $264m from Hong Kong, $196.3m from the UK, $100.7m from the USA, and $5.2m from Japan.