FDIs climb to $667 million in April

Foreign direct investments (FDI) into the Philippines posted a double-digit increase in April driven mainly by investments of non-residents in debt instruments, data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday showed.

FDI net inflows stood at $989 million in April, up 48.3% from the $667 million net inflows in the same month last year and the $727 million recorded in the previous month.

FDI is a cross-border investment of an overseas resident having control or a significant degree of influence on the management of an enterprise that resides in the Philippines.

Increases were seen in all components of FDIs, led mainly by non-residents’ net investments in debt instruments.

Equity capital placements for the month, coming mainly from Malaysia, the United States, and Japan, channeled primarily into construction; real estate; professional, scientific, and technical; and manufacturing industries.

The latest figures brought the year-to-date net inflows up 12.1% to $3.4 billion from $3.1 billion compared with the same period in the previous year.

“Cumulative FDI net inflows rose due mainly to the increase in non-residents’ net investments in debt instruments. Meanwhile, net equity placements (other than reinvestment of earnings) declined during the period,” the BSP said.

For his part, Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) chief economist Michael Ricafort attributed the growth to the easing of quarantine restrictions.

“Pick up in FDIs in recent months may also reflect some easing/normalization of supply chains and logistics locally and worldwide from the height of the lockdowns from 2020-2021, despite some disruptions in recent months, as economies further re-open towards greater normalcy, thereby allowing more FDIs into the country,” he said in a separate commentary.—AOL, GMA News