Islamabad: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) declined sharply by 51.4% during the first five months of the current fiscal year, the State Bank of Pakistan reported Friday.
According to the details shared by the central bank, Pakistan attracted $430.1 million FDI during July-November of FY23 as against $885 million recorded in the same period in FY22.
During the period under review, inflows in FDI amounted to $681 million, whereas the total outflows were recorded at $251 million.
In November alone, FDI dropped by more than 48% compared to the same month last year.
FDI reaches $1.87 billion in FY22
It is important to mention that FDI had clocked in at $1.87 billion in FY22. According to the SBP, Pakistan had attracted FDI amounting to $1.868 billion during FY22 compared to $1.82 billion during FY21, depicting an increase of $47.3 million.
Countrywise, Pakistan had fetched the most amount of FDI from its strongest partner, China, which amounted to $532 million as against $751.6 million in FY21.
Pakistan’s current account deficit shrinks 57% YoY in Jul-Nov
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s current account deficit (CAD) shrank 57% on a year-on-year basis during the first five months of the current fiscal year, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Friday.
According to the monthly statistics uploaded by the central bank on the balance of payments, during the period under review, the current account recorded a deficit of $3.1 billion in FY23 compared to a deficit of $7.23 billion in FY22, showing a decline of $4.135 billion.
The SBP attributed the sharp decline in the current account deficit to a visible decline in imports as the exports remained “broadly unchanged”.
The report stated that in the first five months, Pakistan’s imports fell nearly $4.8 billion to reach $24.87 billion compared to $29.7 billion recorded last year.
However, exports remained “unchanged” at $12.06 billion compared to $12.3 billion recorded last year.
In November alone, the CAD witnessed a very steep decline as it fell by nearly 86% to $276 million from $1.93 billion in November of FY22.
