News Desk
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan saw a net outflow of 17 million dollars in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in December, official data showed on Wednesday, with investment coming into the country shrinking 59% in the second half of 2022.
The overall outflow in December mainly came on the back of a 230.1 million dollars outflow to Australia, 88.4 million dollars to Norway, 33.6 million dollars to the United States, and 24 million dollars to the United Kingdom.
It was in complete contrast to an inflow of 229.8 million dollars in December 2021, according to the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). The monthly net FDI was negative for the first time since March when the outflow was 30 million dollars.
FDI in July-December
In the period of July to December, net FDI dropped 59 percent to 461 million dollars, as inflows plunged to 932.5 million dollars while outflows jumped to 471.6 million dollars. FDI was 1.115 billion dollars in the same half a year ago, comprising 1.43 billion dollars in inflows and 319 million dollars in inflows.
FDI’s net outflow reflects a grim picture of an economy already affected by growing political and economic instability. The government has been struggling to resolve the crisis since April, but there are no signs of improvement.
The FDI has been on a declining course since August. Domestic investments have also plunged during the current financial year, which is another reason for FDI because foreign investors closely watch domestic growth in investments.
The SBP data reveals that FDI amounted to 78.5 million dollars in July, and increased to 116.1 million dollars in August before falling to 94.4 million dollars in September, 91.5 million dollars in October, and 82.6 million dollars in December.
