FDIs expand for 6th straight month in November

MANILA, Philippines — Riding on the tailcoats of economic reopening in November in domestic and global economies, foreign direct investments to the Philippines grew for the sixth straight month, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported Thursday.

What’s new

Data from the BSP revealed FDI tallied a net inflow of $1.1 billion in November 2021, sustaining its feverish pace of growth at 96% year-on-year.

On a monthly basis, FDI jumped 28.07%.

In 11 months, FDI net inflows to $9.2 billion, markedly improving 52.5% compared with the same period in 2020 and exceeding BSP's target of $8 billion net inflow for last year.

Why this matters

FDIs are firmer commitments that provide jobs for Filipinos, so the government wants to attract more FDIs and not only keep existing ones, unlike the so-called “hot money” which enters and leaves markets with ease.

For this year, the central bank revised its full-year forecast to $8 billion, which was already exceeded back in October 2021.

Other figures

• Equity capital placements, a measure of new FDIs, sagged 1.4% on a yearly basis to $1.74 billion in the first 11 months of 2021. Majority of these fresh capital came from Singapore, Japan, and the United States. 
• Intercompany borrowings between multinational companies and their local offices soared 82.1% year-on-year to $6.8 billion in the January-November period.
• Reinvestment of earnings swelled 12.8% on-year to $1.02 billion in the first 11 months of 2021