SBP initiates annual foreign investment survey

RIZWAN BHATTI

KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has initiated annual foreign investment survey to collect data on foreign assets and liabilities of companies/enterprises operating in Pakistan. According to the SBP, the survey is conducted as part of a global undertaking and is co-ordinated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to collect information for compiling Pakistan's Balance of Payments (BoP) statistics and International Investment Position (IIP) of the country.

All resident units, operating in Pakistan and having foreign participation in the form of claims or obligations, are included in the survey.

Accordingly, chief executive officer (CEO) of all companies with foreign assets/liabilities have been asked to submit the required data (as per define format) as of December 31, 2016, along with a copy of the latest annual report of company/entity, the SBP by March 30, 2017.

The survey is conducted in exercise of the power conferred under sub-section (1) of Section 4 Articles of Agreement IMF, Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Finance Notification No 3 (3) IMF/56, dated 4th October, 1956 and Section 38 of the SBP Act 1956, whereby all relevant persons are required to furnish information as on December 31 to the SBP as per the survey's questionnaire.

The information collected through the survey will be treated as strictly confidential and will be used for statistical purposes only and the survey's results will be published in an aggregate form that will prevent disclosure of data by individual respondents, it added.

All Pakistani enterprises, companies and branch offices of foreign companies, operating in Pakistan and having foreign assets and liabilities, have been advised to report the requisite information vis--vis their entities as on December 31, 2016 to the SBP's Statistics & Data Warehouse Department.

The IIP of a country shows the total holdings of foreign assets by domestic residents and the total holdings of domestic assets by foreign residents at a point in time whereas the BoP reflects flows during the period. Data relating to individual enterprises will not be made available to anyone, except the officials compiling it and they are bound to maintain confidentiality of the information under the SBP Act.