Foreign investors: Jul-Apr profit repatriation up 250pc

KARACHI: Repatriation of profit and dividend by foreign investors posted a notable growth of 250 percent during the first 10 months of this fiscal year (FY24).

According to State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), foreign investors repatriated some $887 million on account of profit and dividend during July-April of FY24 compared to $253.4 million in the same period of last fiscal year (FY23).

Analysts said removal of restrictions on outflow of foreign exchange has largely contributed to a massive surge in repatriation of profit and dividend.

Foreign investors: Jul-Feb profit repatriation soars 237pc to $759.2m YoY

During the last fiscal year, the federal government imposed some restrictions on foreign exchange to maintain the reserves at a reasonable level that resulted in lower repatriation of profit and dividend by the foreign companies.

The detailed analysis revealed that most of the amount was repatriated on account of return as Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which share in overall outflows was 91 percent.

An amount of $811.6 million was repatriated as return on FDI during the first ten months of this fiscal year as against $208 million in corresponding period of last fiscal year, depicting an increase of 290 percent or $604 million.

In addition, repatriation of profit and dividend from portfolio investment rose by 66 percent or $30 million. Foreign investors sent abroad $75.4 million as profit on portfolio investment during July-April of FY24 up from $45.4 million in the same period of last fiscal year.

During the period under review, an amount of $149.6 million was repatriated by the financial business, $132 million from petroleum refining sector and $121 million from the power sector.

However, on a monthly basis, only $56.6 million were repatriated from Pakistan in April. This includes $43 million as return on FDI and $13.7 million on account of profit on portfolio investment.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024