KARACHI: Near $1 billion hot money flown out of Pakistan in last one month.
Total gross divestment during March 2020 has reached $995 million,according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), as part ofthe continuing trend of ‘hot money’ leaving the country, as foreigninvestors seek safety elsewhere due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Foreign investors divested $222 million net worth of treasury bills(T-bills) on March 13, as per the Special Convertible Rupee Account (SCRA),which tracks inflows and outflows from foreign countries.
The net investment in T-bills from July 2019 to date now amounts to $2.1billion.
This gross divestment is higher than the predicted $800 million-mark ofT-bill outflows last week.
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This brings to an end last week’s particularly bad spell, in terms ofdivestment from t-bills. Foreign investors divested $166 million net worthof treasury bills (T-bills) on March 12, with total divestment at thatpoint reaching $772 million.
On March 11, foreign investors divested $251 million net worth of T-bills,while on March 10, foreign investors divested $136 million of T-bills onMarch 10.
This is part of a general pattern of divestment that started in lateFebruary. Foreign investors divested $67 million of T-bills on February 28and divested $103 million net worth of T-Bills on March 3.
