The Philippines continued to generate lackluster interest from long-haul foreign investors that in March this year chose to invest even fewer funds than they did last year, data published Tuesday by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) show.
During the month, foreign direct investments (FDI) poured into long-duration enterprises in the country, totaled only $548 million or 31 percent lower than in March last year when this totaled $792 million.
FDIs are funds actually invested rather than pledged in income-generating activities that generate employment opportunities for Filipinos and tax revenue for the nation’s coffers that in March this year were plowed mostly in peso-denominated debt securities.
The decline, the BSP said. resulted from lower net inflows across all major FDI components amid investor concerns over subdued global growth prospects.
The bulk of investments poured by foreign fund managers in peso debt securities in March totaled only $389 million versus $620 million last year. Reinvested profits in March barely changed at $65 million but so-called equity other than reinvestment of earnings fell more than 11 percent to only $94 million from last year’s $106 million.
According to the BSP, the foreign funds originated mostly from Singapore, Japan and the United States and plowed into manufacturing, information and communication companies as well as in real estate firms.
The three-month FDI similarly fell 19.6 percent to only $2.042 billion from last year’s $2.542 billion as foreign investor interest in peso-denominated debt securities totaled only $1.579 billion from last year’s $2.027 billion.
The fund managers who opted to stay invested in the Philippines and plowed back their gains barely moved to $202 million this year from last year’s $204 million.
FDIs come in the form of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings, and borrowings.
