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KARACHI: Profit repatriation exceeded inflows of foreign direct investment (FDI) by 32 per cent in the first 11 months of 2025-26, highlighting the weak appeal of Pakistan’s economy for fresh capital.
This reflects a grim situation: the country has been struggling to keep the current account under control but has failed to attract foreign investment, and profit outflows on previous investments have exceeded inflows.
The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data showed that profit and dividend outflows increased to $2.154 billion during the first 11 months of FY26 from $2.105bn a year ago. However, outflow was half a billion dollars more than the FDI in the same period.
The Board of Investment and the Special Investment Facilitation Council have been working to attract foreign investors but so far their efforts are not fruitful. However, the experts have identified that domestic investment is also absent. They said without domestic investments foreign investors would never see the country as an option to invest.
