According to the State Bank of Pakistan, repatriation of profit and dividends by foreign investors has grown by 16.5% in the first ten months of the current fiscal year, compared to the corresponding period of the previous fiscal. In these ten months up to April 2018, foreign investors repatriated an aggregate of $1.773 billion, up from $1.521 billion during the same period last year. Payments on Foreign Direct Investment accounted for the major portion of repatriations, with a share of 85.3% in total repatriations, compared to payments on Foreign Portfolio Investments (FPI), which accounted for 14.7% of the repatriations during this period.

Repatriation of profit and dividends on account of FDI was reported at $1.5126 billion, having increased by $277.9 million during the period under consideration, an increase of about 22.5% from the 10MFY2017 figure of $1.2347 billion. While repatriations on account of FDI grew, the same could not be said about repatriations on account of FPI, which recorded negative growth of 9.23% during these ten months, owing to weaker performance of the equity market during this time frame. Repatriations on account of FPI fell from $286.7 million in the ten months of the previous fiscal to $260.3 million in the ten months of the current fiscal.

Moreover, according to State Bank data, Net Foreign Direct Investments in Pakistan were recorded at $2.2378 billion in the first ten months of the current fiscal compared to $2.1847 billion in the corresponding period of last fiscal. This represents a growth of about 2.43%. The largest share of Net FDI inflows belongs to the Power sector, a share of 33.5%, of which the overwhelming investments are in coal-oriented plants, followed by Hydel power. Net FDI in this sector grew by 45.76%. Net FDI in the Construction sector accounted for 25% of the total Net FDI, growing at a rate of 58% in the ten months of the current fiscal. Net FDI in Oil and Gas exploration companies accounted for 7.37% of the total share and grew at a rate of 53% while the Food Sector accounts for 4.5% of total Net FDI, having declined by 80.3% in the current fiscal year. Together, these four sectors account for over 70% of our total Net FDI inflows.

As can be seen from the table above, the highest outflow of profits was from the Financial Business sector that held a share of 13.78% in total repatriations. However, compared to the corresponding period of last year, repatriations within this sector declined by 11.1% in the first ten months of this fiscal. Oil and Gas Explorations held a share of 12.46% in total repatriations, having increased by 116% since the corresponding period of last fiscal. Similarly, Food Sector contributed a share of 11.17% in total repatriations, but increased only marginally by 1.73%. Thermal power with a share 10.51% and Telecommunications with a share of 9.41% grew by 16.75% and 197.54% respectively.

The largest growth in top contributors was among Telecommunications and Oil and Gas Exploration sectors at 197.54% and 116.06%. Although contributing relatively less to overall repatriations, the largest growth in overall repatriations was also seen in Basic Metals (268.14%), Metal Products (209.51%) and Textiles (188%). Similarly, the largest decline in growth was recorded in Leather and Leather Products, Cosmetics, and Rubber and Rubber Products at -98.14%, -91.67% and -83.84% respectively.

Month-on-month basis, during April 2018, a total of $172.7 million was repatriated, with payments on FDI at $136 million and those on FPI at $36.7 million. This figure represented a growth of 21.39% over repatriations amounting to $140.9 million in March 2018. The largest monthly growth in total repatriations during the current fiscal year was recorded in October 2017, a growth of 106%, while the largest decline in repatriations was in September 2017, a decline of 43.64%.