FDI in power sector surges 125pc in 4 months

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Direct Investment in country's power sector has surged by 125.4 per cent in first four months of current fiscal year compared to same period of last year.

The country's power sector received the biggest share of foreign funds, followed by construction, financial services and communications sector.

The inflow of direct investment in the power sector increased to $422.4 million in July-October (2017-18) while the construction sector fetched $177.0 million in FDI compared to $31.4 million a year earlier.

In total, Pakistan received $277.7 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) in the month of October, compared to $115.3 million during the corresponding month of the last fiscal year, says a press release issued by Board of Investment here Thursday.

While for the first four months of the current fiscal year (July-Oct) FY2017-18, FDI stood at $939.7 million which accounted for 74.4 per cent above the inflows recorded during the same period a year ago.

China is the leading investment country with $631.7 million, up 224.6 per cent from the same period in FY17.

The Chinese firms invested large part of their funds in energy and infrastructure projects under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The net inflow of FDI from Malaysia stood at $107 million in July-Oct FY18 against $9.4 million during the same period last year.

French investors accounted for $38.0 million in FDI during the period under review.

Telecommunications bounced back compared to last year. The inflow of FDI in this sector rose to $64.9 million compared to an outflow of $38.3 million during the same period last year.

The financial business and oil and gas exploration sectors received $76.3 million and $57.9 million respectively during the four months of this fiscal year.

Brighter FDI prospects are expected in FY18 as economy appears to be expanding and work on certain electricity generation and development projects under CPEC remains on track, while the CPEC is shifting gears from short term projects to long term projects such as Industrial Cooperation under CPEC for which BOI is the lead agency.

BoI is closely working with Chinese experts from National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) of China for relocation of Chinese industry into Pakistan and industrialization of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) along-side CPEC, the statement added.