Net foreign investments jumped 62% to $754M in Sept

A 61.8-percent jump in net inflows of job-generating foreign direct investments (FDIs) in September to $754 million narrowed the year-on-year decline in the nine-month tally, the latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data released Monday showed.

FDIs rose from $466 million in September last year, bringing the total as of the end of the first nine months to $5.84 billion, down 0.2 percent from $5.85 billion last year.

The high base was brought about by the $2 billion in inflows that entered the economy in April last year when Security Bank took in Japanese banking giant Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ as a strategic partner with a 20-percent stake, resulting in a fresh capital infusion of P36.9 billion.

In a statement, the BSP said that in September, “investment inflows surged, buoyed by investor confidence in the Philippine economy on the back of strong macroeconomic fundamentals and high growth prospects.” During the July-to-September period, the gross domestic product grew by a better-than-expected 6.9 percent, the second-fastest economic expansion in the region.

Prior to September, FDI inflows in August reached a 16-month high of $1.2 billion.

Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III earlier expressed optimism that two recent FDIs would bolster this year’s inflows—the $1.3-billion deal between Energy Development Corp. and the consortium of Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets and Arran Investment Pte. Ltd. as well as the $1-billion acquisition of homegrown cigarette manufacturer Mighty Corp. by Japan Tobacco International’s Philippine unit.

That month’s foreign capital infusion, the bulk of which came from China, Japan, the Netherlands, Singapore and the United States, was mostly poured into accommodation and food service, construction, manufacturing, real estate, as well as professional, scientific and technical activities. —BEN O. DE VERA