Investment in T-bills jumps to $1.41bn.

Byline: Shahid Iqbal

KARACHI -- Foreign investment in government debt papers continued with the addition of over $400 million within a month.

The latest data issued by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday shows that the treasury bills attracted $413m during a month, which pushed the total foreign investment in government papers to $1.413 billion.

On November 25, the total inflow in the T-bills was $1bn which has since jumped to $1.4bn, reflecting the growing confidence of foreign investors.

These inflows in local debt papers support, to some extent, the government's claim that investment environment has improved. Prime Minister Imran Khan has recently announced that 2020 will be the year of economic progress and stability.

Around half a billion dollar investment in the equity market could not stay and the outflow of $542m practically reduced the overall inflows in t-bills and equity during a month period; the collective inflows were $1.956bn during the month.

This is the first time that Pakistan has succeeded to attract such large foreign inflows in government papers which has affected other investment too.

For example, the foreign direct investment during 5MFY20 surged by 78 per cent to $850m,.

Financial sector, which has been investing heavily in government papers, believes that the high returns on T-bills were the main attraction for...