KARACHI: The outflow of profits and dividends during the last fiscal year declined by 21.34 per cent compared to FY18, reported the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The outflow during the period clocked in at $1.825 billion compared to $2.320bn in FY18.

Despite declining, the $2bn-outflow is significantly high amount for the county as it is expected to pay about $10bn as debt servicing alone in FY19. The final figures for total payments as debt serving in FY19 have not been released yet but as per the latest data, the government had paid $7.229bn in the first three quarters of FY19 almost equal to total debt servicing costs incurred during FY18 at $7.495bn.

The lesser outflow saved the country almost half a billion dollars as it had to work hard for keeping its foreign exchange reserves at an adequate level.

The data published the by the SBP showed most of the outflows were noted in the foreign direct investment (FDI), which fell by 21.47pc to $1.577.4bn compared to FY18.

Moreover, outflow from portfolio investments also declined during the financial year to $247.7 million from $311.5m in FY18; a decrease of $63.8m.

Sector-wise, highest outflow was noted in the telecommunications which has been the pick of foreign investors for many years. The outflow from the sector clocked in at $304.7m — highest among all sectors despite remaining lower than FY18’s outflow of $327.2m.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2019