Foreign investments up over 30% in Nov – Bangko Sentral

Jobs-creating foreign direct investments (FDIs) grew by over a third in November, reflecting confidence in the Philippine economy, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Wednesday.

The Philippines registered a net inflow of $399 million in FDIs last November, up 34.2 percent from $297 million a year earlier, Bangko Sentral said in a statement.

In the 11 months to November, foreign investors injected $5.7 billion in direct investments into the Philippine economy, up 61.6 percent to from $3.5 billion a year earlier.

“This reflected investors’ confidence in the Philippine economy on the back of sound macroeconomic fundamentals and strong growth prospects,” the BSP said.

The Philippine economy grew by 6.1 percent in 2014, reflecting a slight recovery in agriculture and accelerated government spending in the fourth quarter.

The year-to-date numbers were better than the average logged over the past two years, Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company research head Ildemarc Bautista told GMA News Online.

“Our average is at $2-3 billion. And the latest data is definitely an improvement over our average in the previous years,” he said.

“But we’re still below our peers. To be at par with our Asian neighbors, we need to hit $10 billion in FDI inflows,” Bautista said.

In particular, non-residents’ net placements on debt instruments issued by local affiliates went up by 46 percent to $3.4 billion from $2.3 billion.

Net equity capital investments surged by 114.8 percent to $1.6 billion from $723 million and channeled mainly to the financial and insurance sector, manufacturing, real estate, wholesale and retail trade, and transportation and storage activities.