Business Recorder
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Investment Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh admitted that foreign investment inflows have declined by 22 percent from USD 3.089 billion to USD 2.409 billion during the current financial year 2025–26 (July–February) due to regional and global geopolitical conflicts. However, the minister said that profit remittances were recorded at approximately USD 771.52 million from the energy and services sectors during July–January of the financial year 2025–26. In a written reply to questions of the members of the National Assembly on Thursday, the reason for the decline in investment inflows is owing to regional and global geopolitical tension, like the Russia-Ukraine fights, the Gaza Tragedy, Indo-Pak and Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions, and the recent Iran-US-Israel war. He said that foreign investment inflows in the last two financial years, 2023-24 and 2024-25, stood at USD3.166 billion and USD 4.28 billion, respectively, which is higher than the last period. He said that between the two financial years 2023–24 and 2024–25, the present government achieved a notable economic turnaround: inflation fell sharply from nearly 30 percent to around 5.5 percent, interest rates were cut from 22.5 percent to 10.5 percent, and IT exports surged to USD3 billion annually. About foreign investment inflows, the Minister said that sectoral data indicate that during July–January FY2025–26, profit remittances were recorded at approximately USD 400.19 million from the energy sector and USD 371.33 million from financial services. He said these figures primarily reflect returns on investments by foreign companies operating in power generation, oil and gas, and banking sectors. He said that such remittances are consistent with the contractual and regulatory framework governing foreign investment in Pakistan and are processed in accordance with the guidelines of the State Bank of Pakistan. He said that the outflows largely pertain to dividend payments and profit transfers by operational entities with ongoing business activities in the country. He said it is pertinent to note that these remittances do not indicate sectoral decline or capital withdrawal; rather, they represent normal profit realization by investors. He said that both sectors continue to attract and retain foreign investment, supported by policy facilitation measures and investment frameworks promoted through platforms such as the Special Investment Facilitation Council. Earlier, Federal Minister for Investment Qaiser Ahmed Sheikh informed the house while responding to a supplementary question of a member that Pakistan achieved a positive current account balance for the first time in 14 years during the fiscal year 2024-25. He said that, according to data reported around July 2025, Pakistan recorded a USD2.1 billion annual current account surplus for FY25. The Minister said that the surplus was driven by record worker remittances (USD38.3 billion, a 27 percent increase), strong IT export growth, and careful management of imports. Parliamentary Secretary of Information Technology Sabheen Ghoury also told the National Assembly that the government is taking several steps to meet the current and future market demands with regard to Artificial Intelligence, information technology, and digital skills. Parliamentary Secretary of Information Technology Sabheen Ghoury informed the house while responding to supplementary questions of the members during the session. She said ninety percent of startups became functional in Software Technology Parks. She said around thirty-six percent of them are women. The Parliamentary Secretary further informed that over 4.5 million people have been registered on the Digi Skills Program since 2018. Answering another question, the Parliamentary Secretary said that Pakistan’s IT exports witnessed an unprecedented surge, reaching USD 3.8 billion during the last fiscal year. Sabheen Ghoury said the successful 5G spectrum auction this year will provide a digital highway to further boost the IT exports. Later, the National Assembly passed “The Fund for Cultural Heritage (Amendment) Bill, 2026” by a majority vote. However, a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) opposition member, Brigadier Aslam Ghumman (Retd), pointed out a lack of quorum during the legislative process on “The National Institute for Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) (Amendment) Bill, 2026” due to thin attendance in the House. Deputy Speaker Ghulam Mustafa Shah, who was chairing the session, subsequently adjourned the House until Friday at 11:30 a.m. owing to the lack of quorum. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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