Daily Times

Foreign investors repatriated $2.215 billion on account of profit and dividend during fiscal year 2023-2024, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Monday.

Repatriation of profit and dividend by foreign investors posted an exponential growth of 569% during FY24, as compared to $331 million in FY23, an increase of $1.884 billion.

Experts said the surge in the repatriation of profit and dividend has been witnessed amid relaxation of capital controls that were implemented during the previous year to curtail the outflow of foreign exchange from the country.

“In FY24, Pakistan witnessed the highest ever profit and dividend repatriation since FY18, as authorities cleared the backlog,” said Arif Habib Limited (AHL) in a note.

“This marked a significant repatriation high in six years.”

During FY24, most of the amount was repatriated on account of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

Out of the total amount, repatriation of profit and dividend from FDI was $2,085.1 million and amount repatriated under Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) stood at $130 million.

The highest outflow of profit and dividends amounting to $558.6 million was sent to the UK, while the UAE ranked second with $273.6 million in FY24.

Repatriation of profit and dividend clocked in at $414.5 million during June 2024 against $918.1 million repatriated in May 2024, showing a decrease of nearly 55% or $503.6 million.

However on a yearly basis, the amount repatriated was exponentially higher as compared to a mere $17.9 million recorded in June 2023.

During June 2024, out of the total amount $390.5 million was repatriated on account of FDI, while $24.1 million was repatriated on account of FPI.