Net FDI inflow hits record $2.2B in April

Net inflows of job-generating foreign direct investments (FDI) jumped to the highest-ever monthly figure of $2.2 billion in April as the Philippines’ economic star shone in the region and attracted greater investor interest, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Monday.

Documents showed that net FDI inflows last April surged from $364 million a month ago and $382 million a year ago, which the BSP said was “reflective of the favorable investment climate as the economy continued to post strong growth and show even better growth potentials.”

The economy grew by a better-than-expected 6.9 percent in the first quarter, with full-year growth expected to be within a “conservative” 6-7 percent, a range still better than most forecasts for its Asean neighbors.

The average economic growth of 6.2 percent in the first five years of the Aquino administration was also the fastest since the late 1970s such that Aquino’s economic managers declared that the Philippines was no longer the sick man of Asia, but the region’s rising star.

In a statement, the BSP said net inflows were posted across all FDI components at the start of the second quarter.

According to the BSP, the bulk of the net inflows in April was made up of debt instruments—overseas-based parent firms’ lending to their affiliates in the country in order to finance existing operations as well as expansion, which hit $1.3 billion, up 371.6 percent year-on-year.