Outflow of profit beats foreign direct investment by 32pc

Pakistan's economy is showing a grim situation as profit repatriation has exceeded foreign direct investment (FDI) by 32 percent, reaching $2.154 billion in the first 11 months of FY26. This highlights the country's struggle to attract fresh capital and control its current account, despite efforts by the Board of Investment and Special Investment Facilitation Council. The largest profit outflows went to the UK ($585.6 million) and China ($456.3 million), with China and Hong Kong accounting for nearly half of the total FDI. The government and State Bank have not imposed restrictions on profit repatriation, which should encourage foreign investors, especially with comfortable foreign exchange reserves that rose to $17.221 billion for SBP.