Overseas Pakistanis have expressed their confidence in the government by sending record remittances, contributing to a significant increase in foreign inflows.

According to the State Bank of Pakistan, remittances in the current fiscal year have risen by 11 percent.

In the first seven months of this fiscal year, Pakistan’s remittances have exceeded $23 billion, reaching $23.202 billion, the central bank reported.

In January 2026 alone, remittances amounted to $3.465 billion, reflecting a 15 percent year-on-year increase from $3 billion in January 2025.

Saudi Arabia emerged as the leading source of remittances, contributing $740 million in January 2026.

The United Arab Emirates followed closely with $694 million, while the United Kingdom sent $572 million, European countries $480 million, and the United States $295 million.

The growth in remittances during the current fiscal year indicates a continued trust of overseas Pakistanis in the country’s economic stability.

State Bank data shows that in the same seven-month period last fiscal year, remittances totaled $20.85 billion.

This year-on-year increase reflects both the resilience of the Pakistani diaspora and the government’s efforts to maintain stable economic policies.

The inflows are expected to play a crucial role in supporting Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves and economic recovery.

Last Updated:February 10, 2026, 12:03 IST

Except for the ELSS category, all the mutual fund categories receive net inflows in January 2026, suggesting a broader positive sentiment.

Sectoral and thematic funds saw a pickup in net inflows during the month, suggesting selective tactical positioning by investors toward specific opportunities rather than broad-based risk taking.

AMFI Data For January 2026: Equity mutual fund inflows witnessed a decline for the second consecutive month in January 2026 as markets remained volatile amid geopolitical and trade risks. According to the latest data from the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), equity MF inflows during the month fell 14.35% month-on-month to Rs 24,029 crore.

Gold ETFs emerged as one of the top-performing categories in terms of investor interest. Net inflows into gold ETFs surged to about Rs 24,040 crore in January, more than doubling from Rs 11,647 crore in December, making gold a clear standout for the month.

As of January 31, 2026, open-ended equity-oriented mutual fund schemes had assets under management of Rs 34.86 lakh crore, significantly higher than the Rs 18.90 lakh crore managed by open-ended debt-oriented schemes, indicating that equity funds continue to command a larger share of the industry’s assets despite month-on-month fluctuations in flows.

The mutual fund industry overall returned to net inflows in January, with total inflows turning positive at Rs 1.56 lakh crore. This recovery was largely driven by debt schemes, which recorded net inflows of Rs 74,827 crore during the month after witnessing substantial outflows in December.

Investor participation was also strong across other segments. Hybrid schemes saw net inflows of Rs 17,356 crore, while “other schemes”, including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), attracted Rs 39,955 crore. Solution-oriented schemes posted stable inflows of around Rs 341 crore in January.

Himanshu Srivastava, principal research at Morningstar Investment Research India, said, “Equity-oriented mutual fund categories recorded net inflows of Rs 24,029 crore in January 2026, lower than Rs 28,054 crore in December, indicating a moderation in pace rather than any meaningful deterioration in investor sentiment. Flows remained constructive despite bouts of market volatility, supported by steady SIP contributions and continued confidence in the long-term structural growth prospects of Indian equities.”

The moderation in overall inflows was largely driven by cooling momentum in the mid- and small-cap segments. While these categories continued to attract healthy absolute inflows of INR 3,185 crore and INR 2,942 crore respectively, the pace slowed sharply compared with the previous month, reflecting elevated valuations and recent corrections prompting investors to adopt a more cautious and selective approach. Some amount of profit booking after the strong performance seen over the past years also weighed on incremental allocations, he added.

“Large-cap and focused funds also witnessed healthy traction in January, recording higher inflows compared with December. Both the categories garnered inflows of about INR 2,005 crore and INR 1,557 crore respectively. This suggests a gradual tilt toward quality, earnings visibility, and relatively stable portfolios amid an uncertain global backdrop,” Srivastava said.

Flexi-cap funds, continued to remain the largest category by assets and saw the highest net inflows in January at Rs 7,672 crore. This points towards investors preference for flexible investment options to capture investment opportunities across market segments. There was a moderation in flows however from December, possibly reflecting a wait-and-watch stance after sustained strong allocations in recent months.

Sectoral and thematic funds, however, saw a pickup in net inflows during the month, suggesting selective tactical positioning by investors toward specific opportunities rather than broad-based risk taking. However, the quantum of flows in the recent months has come down significantly.

“Except for the ELSS category, all the categories received net inflows suggesting a broader positive sentiment. Also, there has been a significant slowdown in the NFO activity,” Srivastava said.

Overall, the flow trend suggests that equity participation remains structurally intact, but investor behaviour is becoming more balanced and risk-aware, with allocations gradually shifting toward stability, diversification, and valuation comfort rather than aggressive positioning in slightly riskier segments, he added.

Foreign portfolio investors pulled out about $4 billion from Indian equities during the month.

The benchmark Nifty 50 and Sensex dropped 3.1% and 3.5% in January, while the broader small-caps and mid-caps fell 4.7% and 3.4%, respectively.

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The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s (Nepra) move to abolish the net metering system and replace it with a net billing framework under the Prosumer Regulations 2026 has sparked widespread criticism from politicians, former officials and energy experts, who argue it will disincentivise rooftop solar adoption and worsen power sector inefficiencies.

Political and expert reactions

Former Sindh governor and PML-N leader Mohammad Zubair wrote on X: “This government continues to prove it has no solutions to our economic challenges especially power sector,” and asked why citizens should “pay extra just because this government is inefficient, incompetent and has no imagination.”

PPP’s Senator Sherry Rehman said in a thread that the rules “will not only slow down the country’s energy transition and contradict Pakistan’s climate commitments, it will, quite literally, punish citizens for producing clean, affordable energy.” She added the change “rewards inefficiency, and props up an ageing distribution system that should have been privatised or given to the provinces long ago.”

Ammar Rashid, an activist and researcher, called the decision “disastrous,” saying it “explicitly aims to slow Pakistan’s consumer-led clean energy transition” and accused authorities of penalising solar users “to protect the interests of IPPs, extort more revenue, cover DISCO inefficiencies & delay reform of the grid.”

Power sector expert and former official Shahid Shafi Sial posted that the shift “addressed a long-standing anomaly” and described the change as “politically difficult,” while cautioning it “won’t fix the power sector” or resolve issues such as capacity payments.

PTI leader and former Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa finance minister Taimur Saleem Khan Jhagra said the government had used Nepra to front the decision and warned it could spur increased battery adoption and off-grid uptake.

Former finance minister Miftah Ismail underscored the stark pricing imbalance, noting that consumers will pay full retail rates while receiving far lower compensation for excess solar power, a dynamic he portrayed as advantageous to the state but unfair to citizens. Consumers would buy electricity at about Rs40 per unit while surplus would be bought back at about Rs11, with tax treatment widening the gap.

Former information minister and PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry also criticised the decision, framing it as part of what he described as a broader burden on domestic consumers. In a post on X, he alleged that electricity tariffs were being raised for households while solar net metering was being “practically abolished” to provide relief to industrialists. He further used the reference of “Ayub Khan’s 22 families” to argue that economic power had expanded to a much larger elite, naming the Zardari and Sharif families in this context.

Former finance minister and PTI leader Hammad Azhar also weighed in, criticising what he described as inconsistent and retroactive policymaking in the power sector. In a post on X, he said current decisions were effectively encouraging a shift towards battery-based off-grid solar solutions, warning that such measures risk making the national grid “irrelevant”. Azhar also pointed to last year’s sharp increase in fixed energy costs for industries, calling it a policy “blunder” that had already undermined confidence in the sector.

Under the new rules, utilities will purchase excess electricity from prosumers at the national average energy purchase price while selling electricity to consumers at the applicable consumer tariff, effectively ending one-for-one unit exchange under net metering, Nepra said. The buyback rate for surplus generation has been discussed at about Rs11 per unit, while consumers continue to pay grid tariffs that can exceed Rs40 per unit. The regulator has also reduced the standard contract term from seven years to five.

The regulations apply to solar, wind, and biogas systems and cap the maximum size of a distributed generation facility at 1 megawatt, with system capacity limited to the consumer’s sanctioned load. Nepra has introduced a technical restriction that bars new connections if generation on a transformer reaches 80% of its rated capacity, and facilities of 250kW and above must undergo a mandatory load-flow study, the report said. Existing prosumers will remain under their current agreements until expiry.

Financial and operational obligations also shift under the new framework: prosumers will bear interconnection costs, including meters and grid upgrades, Nepra said, and the regulator has introduced a non-refundable concurrence fee of Rs1,000 per kilowatt. Metering must support two-way measurement, either through a single bi-directional meter or dual meters. Nepra has retained powers to revise purchase rates during the life of agreements and to issue binding directions.