The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Wednesday foreign direct investments (FDI) posted net inflows of $556 million in April 2024, lower by 36.9 percent than $881 million registered a year ago.
FDIs include investment by a nonresident direct investor in a resident enterprise, whose equity capital in the latter is at least 10 percent, and investment made by a nonresident subsidiary/associate in its resident direct investor.
FDIs can be in the form of equity capital, reinvestment of earnings and borrowings.
The BSP said nonresidents’ net investments in debt instruments decreased by 38.8 percent to $407 million from $665 million in April 2023.
Nonresidents’ net investments in equity capital (other than reinvestment of earnings) and their reinvestment of earnings declined by 48.1 percent to $68 million from $132 million and 4.2 percent to $81 million from $84 million, respectively.
Equity capital placements in April came largely from Japan, the United States, Malaysia and Singapore.
The BSP said these went mostly to manufacturing, real estate, wholesale and retail trade and financial and insurance industries.
It said despite the decline in FDIs in April, the level increased by 18.7 percent in the first four months to $3.5 billion from $3 billion recorded in January to April 2023.
This reflects investor confidence in the Philippine economy’s resilience amid global uncertainties, the BSP said.
FDI statistics are distinct from the investment data of other government sources.
FDI data cover actual investment inflows, while the approved foreign investments data that are presented by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) are sourced from investment promotion agencies (IPAs) and represent investment commitments, which may not necessarily be realized fully, in a given period.
