Palace confident foreign direct investment figures will improve

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Tuesday said it remains upbeat that foreign direct investments in the country will improve after a significant drop in the influx of new investments was recorded in the first six months of the year.

Citing data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon recently flagged the 90.3 percent decrease in foreign equity placements other than reinvestments of earnings during the first six months of 2017 compared to same period last year.

Asked if the government is confident that the FDI figures will recover, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, in a press conference, said: “Definitely.”

“Especially so that the president has given his assurance that his whole intention is to finish his term,” Abella said, adding that President Rodrigo Duterte is keeping his promise of a “comfortable life” for Filipinos that would extend beyond his term.

“He’s in fact he’s looking forward to beyond 2022, not for himself but for the rest of administration... for other administrations to come in order to bring in a decent life for Filipino people,” the Palace spokesman also said.

Analysts and businessmen had warned that the killings under Duterte’s drug war, as well as his verbal tirades against Western countries, could dampen investor confidence in the Philippines, reversing the initial optimism after his June 30 inauguration.

READ: Uncertainty over Duterte alarms investors

Meanwhile, the World Bank has recently trimmed anew its growth forecast for the Philippines to 6.6 percent this year and 6.7 percent in 2018 and 2019, citing a slower-than-expected implementation of public investment projects which stalls the growth in spending.

READ: World Bank trims Philippine growth outlook

The country, however, is expected to remain the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia in 2017 and 2018, propped up by sustained domestic demand driven by high consumer and business confidence, modest inflation, robust remittance growth and improving real wages.