Islamabad: Cash-strapped Pakistan’s foreign direct investment (FDI) has fallen by 35 per cent at the end of the third quarter of the current fiscal year, reflecting no improvement in the situation for investors, according to the State Bank of Pakistan.
As per the data provided by the central bank, the FDI fell by 35.1 per cent to USD 1.395 billion during July-March compared to USD 2.15 billion in the same period of last fiscal.
The data says that FDI inflow in March was just USD 167.6 million compared to USD 278.7 million in the same month of last year — a decline of 40 per cent.
The FDI had dropped by 30 per cent during the first eight months of the current fiscal, and due to the 40 per cent decline recorded last month, it has now fallen by 35 per cent after nine months, it said.
The FDI has kept on declining in the fiscal year and has reflected no improvement in the situation for investors, the State Bank of Pakistan said.
However, the position on the external front is much better as the current account of eight months of FY21 is surplus with USD 881 million and the SBP reserves have reached a four-year high, the bank said.
