KARACHI: Pakistan’s equities, treasury bills and bonds could attract a meagre sum of $112.9 million against a much higher outflow of $187m during the first half of the current fiscal year.

The persisting political and economic instability was a key reason for this higher outflow as foreigners seemed least interested to invest even in high-return Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs).

The State Bank of Pakistan’s (SBP) half-year data for FY23 showed that the domestic bonds were almost ignored by foreign investors. During this period only $18.1m inflow was noted in T-bills but the outflow was three times higher at $54.9m.

The domestic bonds had attracted over $4bn but the emergence of the pandemic resulted in a quick outflow of $3.5bn within a few months. Since then the domestic bonds, which now offer about 16pc return, were unable to attract foreign investors. The inflow in PIBs during the first half of FY23 was zero while the outflow was $0.328m.

The highest inflow was noted in equities but the outflow was even bigger. During this period foreign investment in equities was $94.85 million while the outflow during the same period was $132m.

The data shows the total inflows during July-Decem­ber were $112.9m while the outflows were $187.3m making the cumulative net inflow negative $74.3m.

Published in Dawn, january 3th, 2023