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MANILA – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Tuesday reported that the country’s net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows at the start of the year stood at USD448 million.
The BSP said net inflows in January declined by 45.7 percent from USD824 million in the same month in 2022.
“FDI inflows declined during the month amid global economic uncertainties and high inflation, which continued to weigh on investor decisions,” the central bank said.
The BSP attributed the drop in FDI net inflows to the decrease in non-residents’ net investments in debt instruments, plunging by 56.6 percent year on year to USD280 million from USD645 million.
Lower equity capital was also recorded in the same comparable period, which went down by 13.19 percent to USD93 million from USD107 million.
Top sources of these FDIs at the start of 2023 were Japan, Singapore, and the United States.
Industries where FDIs were largely invested in January include manufacturing, with a 48 percent share of the pie; financial and insurance, 27 percent; and real estate, 13 percent. (PNA)
