Foreign investments grow 62% in April to $202-M

MANILA, Philippines – Foreign direct investments (FDI) in April rose 61.6% to $202 million from $125 million in the same month of 2012, the central bank reported Wednesday, July 10.

This was a reversal of the $78 million outflow recorded in March.

Foreign investors poured in $189 million in equity capital in April and withdrew $58 million, resulting in a net of $131 million. These investments went to financial and insurance activities, real estate, manufacturing, and mining and quarrying.

In terms of countries, the investments came mainly from the United States, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore.

FDI refers to capital foreigners invest to set up new or expand existing businesses in the country.

Unlike “hot money” or portfolio investments, which go to stocks and bonds and which fly in and out of the financial markets easily, FDI inflows are for the long term.

A sign of investor confidence, FDI inflows help spur job creation.

For the first 4 months of 2013, FDI amounted to $1.5 billion, down 2.8% from the year-ago level.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas expects a net FDI of $2.2 billion in 2013, up from the $2.033 billion recorded in 2012. – Rappler.com