FDI falls 45 pct to USD 460m: State Bank of Pakistan

The State Bank of Pakistan giving a disappointing picture of the economy has said that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the country has fallen by 45 percent year-on-year to USD 460 million in the first five months of the current fiscal.

The bank said earlier on Thursday that the inflows were mainly dominated by two countries - China and Turkey, reports the Dawn.

The government, which has been announcing massive changes in the economy, earlier claimed to have set everything on track but has failed miserably in attracting foreign investments.

It was hoped that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) would help attract more FDI, but the investment is still declining.

Inflows from China plummeted 58 percent to USD 156 million in July-November.

China became the biggest trading partner of Pakistan during the last three years, but Islamabad remained at the bottom of the list of countries in the region receiving FDIs.

Turkey made an investment of USD 126 million which placed the country in the list of second-largest investor in Pakistan, but this was a one-time investment since FDI in the same period of last fiscal was USD 15.8 million.

FDI inflows from the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and United States were USD 63 million, USD 39 million and USD 60 million respectively while the rest of the investments were much less than USD 30 million.