KARACHI: The political uncertainty slightly impacted the inflows through the Roshan Digital Account (RDA) dipping to $142 million in January versus $160m in December 2023.

However, foreign direct investment (FDI) witnessed a six-year high net outflow of $173m in January, indicating a deterioration of foreign investors’ confidence in the economy.

The State Bank of Pakistan’s data on Tuesday showed that RDA inflows totalled $7.33 billion so far.

Out of the total, $12 million was repatriated in January and $114m was utilised. According to the SBP data, the net repatriable liability was $16m while the total net repatriable liability was $1.231bn as of January-end.

Out of the total outstanding liability, $800m was with Naya Pakistan Certificates, with $302m in conventional NPCs and $498m in Islamic instruments.

The RDA had been launched to compensate for the losses due to outflows of foreign investments from domestic bonds. The foreign investments in treasury bills and Pakistan Investment Bonds left the country after the emergence of Covid-19 in 2019. About $4bn flew back to the foreign investors within a few months.

The data showed that the RDA accounts reached 659,806 in January from 651,057 in Dec 2023. The balances in accounts were $380m till January compared to $375m in December 2023. The equity investment remained unchanged at $30m.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2024