ISLAMABAD: Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Pakistan surged 78.1pc to $850 million in July-November FY20, as compared to the investment of $477.3 million in the same period of last year.

On a year-on-year basis, however, the FDI decreased to $200.1 million in November 2019 as against $285.4 million in the same month of 2018, according to the data released by State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Tuesday.

In total, the foreign investment in the country surged by 1,267pc to $2.006 billion in July-November FY20 as compared to the investment of $146.7 million during the same period of last year.

The country-wise data showed that net foreign investment from China rose from $90 million in 5MFY19 to $141 million during the period under review. Similarly, foreign investment from Norway recorded a jump from a negative $74.2 million to $334 million; investment from the United States increased from a negative $95.2 million to $34.9 million; FDI from the United Kingdom surged from $67.7 million to $100.8 million in the five months of FY20.

Moreover, FDI from Switzerland increased from $3 million to $13.5 million; investment from Malaysia increased from $12.7 million to $35.5 million; the Netherlands invested $23.3 million as compared to $14.7 million in the same period last year; while investment from Germany rose from $19 million to $24.3 million.

On the other hand, FDI from the United Arab Emirates declined from $42 million to $9.9 million; investment from Turkey recorded a slight decline from $23 million to $20 million; investment from Saudi Arabia decreased from $7.2 million to $4.4 million; while FDI from Hong Kong shrank from $44.3 million to $32 million.