Foreign direct investment (FDI), the kind welcomed by regulators because they stay invested for the long haul, flowed inward on net basis and rose 27.8 percent in November last year to USD1.0 billion. The inflows persisted from year-ago inflows of only USD820 million, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said on Monday.
“This improvement was due mainly to the 57.8 percent expansion in nonresidents’ net investments in debt instruments to US$897 million from USD568 million a year ago,” the BSP said.
Nonresidents’ net investments in equity capital (other than reinvestment of earnings) and reinvestment of earnings contracted by 52.5 percent and 8.1 percent to USD85 million (from USD180 million) and USD66 million (from USD72 million), respectively.Equity capital placements during the reference month emanated largely from Japan and the United States. These were channeled primarily to the 1) manufacturing, 2) real estate, and 3) construction industries.
These developments brought the cumulative FDI net inflows to USD7.6 billion in the first eleven months of 2023, albeit lower by 13.3 percent than the US$8.7 billion net inflows recorded in the same period in 2022.
Notwithstanding the country’s sustained economic growth, FDI remained subdued due to the lingering impact of high inflation and low growth prospects globally.
