KARACHI: Foreign investments in treasury bills (T-bills) sharply fell as outflows were four times higher than the inflows in the first week of November.

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Data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday showed that foreign investors had lost their interest in domestic bonds as withdrawals surged to $46 million against an inflow of $10.5m during the first week of this month.

The government claims that the economy is recovering as major indicators have improved. However, the loss of interest in the domestic bonds has some reasons.

Some financial experts believe that the falling returns on domestic bonds were the main factor that caused foreign investors to take out their money from Pakistan.

However, some thought the uncertain political situation was a key reason for the investors to watch until the dust settled. Once again, Islam­abad is being cordoned off to stop protesters from entering the capital.

The breakup showed an inflow of $5.3m from the United Kingdom, $5m from the UAE and $0.26m from the US during Nov 1-8.

However, a massive outflow changed the entire balance sheet as investors from the UK withdrew $41m and the UAE $5m during the week.

“News of apparent unwillingness of debt rollovers by friendly countries like China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE cast doubt over Pakistan’s abilities to attract any FDI or Foreign investment flow in the bond market as usually when these decisions are delayed, chances of dollar appreciation increases which results in loss to investors,” said Rashid Masood Alam, a senior banker.

Since July 1, the total inflows of foreign investments in the T-bill were $717.7m while the outflows were $417m.

SBP reserves rise

The SBP forex reserves increased by $29m to $11.29bn during the week ended on Nov 15, announced the central bank on Thursday. The country’s overall reserves stood at $15.96bn, including $4.67bn held by commercial banks.

Published in Dawn, November 22th, 2024