Telecom Sector Increases Foreign Direct Investment

Telecom Sector Increases Foreign Direct Investment

Pakistan received foreign direct investment (FDI) of $423.8 million in July-October, which is 47.1% higher than the FDI received during the same four-month period of the preceding fiscal year.

[blockquote cite=””] According to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), foreign direct investment increased by $135.7 million year-on-year in July-October, as it amounted to $288.1 million in the first four months of 2013-14.
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FDI remained $254.3 million in October, up 208% from the preceding month. FDI in 2013-14 clocked up at $1.63 billion after increasing by 11.99% on an annual basis. The increase during the last fiscal year was mainly on the back of the auction of the telecom spectrum that fetched the government $610.9 million in May.

There was a net inflow of FDI amounting to $109.3 million from the telecommunications sector in July-October. In contrast, the same sector had registered a net outflow of $101.3 million of FDI during the same period of the last fiscal year. FDI in the telecommunications sector in October alone amounted to $142 million.

Sectors of the economy that experienced a considerable net outflow of FDI in the first four months of the current fiscal year were pharmaceuticals (-$47 million) and cement (-$4.5 million).

[success]Countries that brought significant amounts of FDI into Pakistan in last four months include China ($163.4 million), United States ($75.2 million), Hong Kong ($74.6 million), United Kingdom ($43.2 million), Switzerland ($42.5 million), France ($23.6 million), Norway ($22.7 million), Japan ($12.7 million), Italy ($25.2 million), Egypt ($8.1 million) and Austria ($12.7 million).[/success] [error]Countries that took out major investments out of Pakistan during the last four months are Qatar (-$19.8 million), Saudi Arabia (-$19.5 million), United Arab Emirates (-$8 million), Singapore (-$15.2 million), Malaysia (-$7.3 million), Canada (-$8.2 million), Finland (-$8.3 million) and Luxemburg (-$6.6 million).[/error]