KARACHI: Outflow of profits and dividends did not show any significant change in the first month of this fiscal year.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan data released on Tuesday, profits and dividends repatriated from the country edged up by a minor 0.95 per cent to $138 million in July, compared to $136.7m in same month last year.

Foreign investment in the country has been declining for several years which in turn has reduced the profits outflow also. Details showed that the highest outflow of $42.9m was for Hong Kong, surging from just $0.7m in July last year.

Meanwhile, outflow of profits to the United Kingdom declined drastically during July to $5.2m, as compared to $41.4m in same period last year, followed by the United States at $37.7m, from $45.7m.

Repatriation to China clocked in at a meagre $0.6m in July, compared to $0.1m in same month of last year. The north-eastern neighbour is the biggest investor in Pakistan but data confirm that its investments haven’t yet matured to yield profits.

Sector-wise, highest outflow was from the oil and gas exploration sector at about $30m, while it was zero in comparative month of last year.

Transport wasn’t much behind with a repatriation of $28m in July, from $6m while financial sector posted an outflow of $27m, higher from $6.8m in same month last year.

The profits outflow from chemical sector clocked in at $24.3m, jumping by 62.68pc over $6.7m in comparative period last year.

On the other hand, repatriation from food went down to zero during the month under review, from $35.3m. Similar trend was noticed in beverage with outflow falling to $10.3m, from last July’s level of $35.4m.

Outflow from transport equipment (automobiles) was just $0.2m in July, as against $24.5m.

Published in Dawn, September 4th, 2019