KARACHI: Data published by the State Bank showed Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country dropped by 58.4 percent during the first two months of this fiscal year, reported Dawn.
The total FDI during the July-August period fell to $156.7m from $376.9m in the same period last year. Moreover, on a month-on-month basis, the FDI inflows in August declined by a massive 57.8pc to $83.4m from $197.9m in August 2018.
The drop in inflows to the country was largely caused by the decline in Chinese investments. Capital infusion from China fell to $28.9m in July-August FY20 from $216.0m a year earlier.
Cumulatively, the total foreign investment during the two months under review grew by 6.7pc to $264m compared to $247m during the corresponding period last year.
United Kingdom emerged as the second leading investor in the country pouring $11.7m, followed by UAE with $5.9m and Malaysia $5.4m.
The oil and gas exploration sector remained the pick of foreign investors during July-August period with inflows of $21.3m, followed by $16.4 in transport, $14.9m in electrical machinery and $15.3m in textile in the textile sector.
However, the data for Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) rose by a massive 182.8pc to $107.3m against an outflow of $129.6m during the same period last year.