KARACHI: Foreign direct investment (FDI) fell 43.3 per cent to $58.9 million in July, the first month of the current fiscal year, from $103.8m in the same period in FY22.

For many years, FDI never came to any satisfactory level in Pakistan, but the last three years’ data shows it has been declining each year, reflecting the poor performance of the economy.

The inflows of FDI in FY22 were $1.47 billion, in FY21 it was $2.077bn, and in FY20 it was $2.315bn, showing the declining trend for each year.

The biggest investor for the last several years was China, which is now in fifth position in the list of FDI investors during July in Pakistan. The FDI from China was just 4.6m in July, while it was more disappointing in the same month of FY22 at $3.4m. The inflow during the month was $15.3m, while the outflow was $10.7m during July.

The highest investment came from the UAE, with $12.2m versus $5.6m in the same month of last year, showing a significant improvement. FDI inflows from Switzerland totaled $11.5m, up from $11.1m in July of last year. Inflow from the Netherlands declined to $6.2m against $7.4m in the same month of last year.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2022