Foreign firms repatriate $1.459bln profit in July-February

KARACHI: Multinational firms profit repatriation jumped 20.77 percent to $1.459 billion in last eight months of the current fiscal year of 2017/18, the central bank data showed on Monday.

In February 2018, profit and dividend repatriation on foreign direct investment (FDI) stood at $116.1 million.

A largest repatriation was seen in the financial sector, followed by power and communications businesses.

The SBP’s data showed that banking sector repatriated a hefty $191.7 million in profits during July-February FY18, compared with $183.3 million in the same period of last fiscal year.

An amount of $182.2 million was repatriated by energy companies in July-February FY18 against $147.7 million recorded in the corresponding period of FY17. The telecommunications sector sent abroad $167.3 million against $29.8 million last year.

The repatriation of profits on foreign portfolio investment fell to $180.5 million, compared with $226.6 million same period last year.

Net inflow of FDI was higher than the total repatriation registered during the eight months of the current fiscal year. FDI amounted to $1.941 billion in July-February FY18.