KARACHI: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Pakistan rose 151pc to $289 million in February 2020, compared to $151 million in February last year, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Monday.
This represents the largest percentage increase year-on-year (YoY) since October 2017, when FDI had jumped 150pc to $288 million.
During the last eight months of fiscal year 2020, overall foreign direct investment increased 75pc to $1,853 million. For comparison, during the same eight-month period a year ago, FDI in the country stood at $1,059 million.
Foreign investment in debt securities during the eight-month period of fiscal year 2020 reached $2,161 million.
Foreign direct investment has been on the rise in FY20, particularly in the last four months, where the monthly FDI has been consistently above the $200 million mark.
One notable month was December 2019, where FDI increased to $487 million, against $319.5 million recorded during the same month in 2019.
Country-wide data released by the central bank shows that China remained the largest investor, with net FDI of $697 million during the eight-month period, compared with net investment of $304 million during the same period last year.
The second-largest investor was Norway, with a net FDI of $289 million, compared with $1.2 million during the same period the year before.
However, the UAE and Kuwait divested $14 million and $4 million during the same period, respectively.
The highest amount of FDI during the eight-month period was in the power sector, at $576 million. The second highest was communications, at $472 million, followed by the financial business sector, at $195 million.
