Foreign investors decry govt apathy to their problems.

KARACHI -- Foreign investors have come out with all guns blazing against the Board of Investment and other 'relevant ministries' for turning a blind eye to their plethora of problems, including the holdup in dividend repatriation.

The representative body of more than 200 largest multinationals operating in Pakistan has written a letter - seen by Dawn - to the prime minister, saying they've not been able to send dividends to their overseas shareholders for the last 10 months, which is causing the country a 'serious reputational damage'.

Foreign exchange reserves of the country are barely able to cover one month's import bill, forcing the government to stop large dollar outflows, including those by overseas investors.

A majority of foreign companies in Pakistan mostly sell products and services within the domestic market, generating rupee-denominated sales and profits. But the subsequent profit repatriation to their overseas sponsors is usually in dollars, which puts the country's already strained balance of payments under further pressure.

The holdup in the repatriation is also causing a 'serious financial loss' to the multinationals because of the unprecedented devaluation in the last six months.

'The unremitted local currency dividend is shrinking continuously in the currency of the major shareholders, making the return on investment of foreign investors even less attractive,' said the letter co-signed by Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) President Amir Paracha, who also serves as CEO of Unilever Pakistan Ltd, one of the largest multinationals operating in Pakistan.

There was no mention of a dollar figure for the dividends that remain on hold. However, the CEO of an investment bank, which serves large foreign clients, told Dawn on the condition of...