PCC sees more M&A, FDI inflows this year

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines could expect a continued onslaught of mergers and acquisitions as well as inflow of foreign investments this year and next despite concerns surrounding President Duterte’s controversial pronouncements, Philippine Competition Commission (PCC) chairman Arsenio Balisacan said.

Balisacan, who served as the country’s socioeconomic planning secretary during the previous administration, said the country’s economy remains fundamentally sound to withstand political concerns.

“What I know is that when investors come in, I’m talking about foreign direct investments here, they look at the big picture and not on the short term volatilities. They look at your economic fundamentals over the last year or two. That’s how they look at it, not on the day-to-day or month-to-month changes. Only those who play in the stock market do that,” Balisacan said.

“So when you look at FDI and investor perception on us, they don’t look at this short term events. At the very least it may put them into a wait-and-see attitude but we’re very pragmatic people. They can see they can make money despite political issues here,” he added.

According to the PCC chief, only instances wherein the country’s fiscal deficit becoming unmanageable or the government underspends on infrastructure development could make investors “a little nervous” at present.

“I think so far the economy is resilient to that (political issues). It would have been a different matter if the economy, lets say, was like it was 10 years ago when little things like this can destabilize your macroeconomy. Now we have so many sectors that are growing,” Balisacan said.

Balisacan earlier aired his confidence in seeing more mergers and acquisitions transpiring among companies in the second half of the year behind the country’s growing economy.

He said his bullish stance is unchanged despite issues surrounding the President’s war on drugs and alleged extrajudicial killings, along with his verbal spats with the US, European Union and United Nations.

“For this year and even next, it should be okay (mergers and acquisitions),” Balisacan said.

To date, the PCC, as the country’s anti-trust body, has reviewed 65 mergers and acquisitions.

It has likewise received four referrals for possible anti-competitive conduct.

“We are looking into a number of matters spanning a diverse set of sectors such as power, cement, and rice that have been brought to the attention of the PCC,” Balisacan said.