Foreign investments seen to hit new high

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) sees foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to the Philippines reaching another record high this year, exceeding the $10 billion recorded in 2017.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno is bullish that FDI inflow to the Philippines will continue to sustain its growth and surpass the record achieved last year.

 “This year, year-to-date, we’re already up by 52 percent. So we’re optimistic that our FDI will be much higher this year,” Diokno said in a press briefing.

Diokno highlighted the FDI growth in the Philippines during his recent visit to Geneva, Switzerland for the 2018 World Investment Forum.

 “They were surprised that while global FDI is declining, ours has increased. Average FDI during the time of Aquino was $4.5 billion. Last year it was $10 billion,” he said.

Net inflow of FDIs hit a record high of $10.05 billion in 2017 on the back of positive investor sentiment amid the country’s sound macroeconomic prospects, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

This was 21.4 percent higher than the $8.28 billion recorded in 2016.

Data showed that FDI-to-gross domestic product ratio has also doubled to 3.2 percent in 2017 from 1.6 percent in 2005.

From January to July this year, FDI inflows jumped 52.1 percent to $6.67 billion from $4.38 billion in the same period last year.

For the month of July, alone,  inflows surged 165.5 percent to $914 million from the $344 million recorded the same month in 2017.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez earlier said the reforms implemented by the Duterte administration have deepened investor confidence, as reflected by the rise in foreign investments.

The finance chief said investments have fueled the country’s economy, which grew by six percent in the second quarter of the year.

For 2018, economic managers have adjusted the country’s economic growth target to  a range of 6.5 to 6.9 percent, lower than the previous goal of seven to eight percent amid headwinds in both the global and domestic landscape.

Despite this, Dominguez remains confident the Philippine economy is strong and resilient enough to overcome these difficulties, especially with measures in place to ensure sustained economic expansion.