July 28, 2020 (MLN): Foreign companies operating in Pakistan repatriated $1.34 billion in profit and dividends on investments in the country during FY20 which was 26% lower than the profits repatriated in the previous fiscal year which stood at $1.825 billion.
The decline in repatriated earnings by Multinational firms was due to slowdown in economic activity during the year and a lockdown imposed amid Covid-19 outbreak. In addition to this, the depreciation of Rupee against the Dollar also caused a decline in profits and dividends repatriated by foreign companies functioning in Pakistan.
In the last month of FY20 i.e. June’20, Profits and dividends repatriated by multinational firms stood at $130.8 million.
The latest data released by SBP yesterday shows that the major sectors that repatriated relatively higher profits include Oil & Gas Exploration sector, Financial Business, Transport sector, Communication sector and Chemical, among which Oil & Gas Exploration sector repatriated highest profits of $250.6 million during FY20, against $258.5 million in the previous fiscal year, showing a decline of 3% YoY.
The data further revealed that profits outflow from the Financial Business sector decreased to $238.8 million; against an outflow of $273.3 million in FY19, marking a decline of 13% YoY.
The Transport sector repatriated $176.1 million, which was 3.37 times higher as they had sent $52.2 million during FY19.
The Communication sector repatriated 50% lower profits and dividend income during FY20 which amounted to $154.4 million, while in the previous year, the sector repatriated $309.7 million.
Meanwhile, other sectors such as Chemical, Power and Food, also managed to dispatch reasonable profits of $124.4 million, $72.8 million and $59.6 million respectively during the fiscal year under study.
