By Sonya Delgado
Foreign direct investment (FDI) net inflows took a 36.5 dip this year compared to last year, the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas said.
BSP reported that the FDI registered $368 million in September 2024, which is lower than the $577 million net inflows posted in September 2023.
The downturn in FDI net inflows in September 2024 was due largely to the 32.8 percent decline in nonresidents’ net investments in debt instruments to $277 million from $413 million.
Similarly, nonresidents’ net investments in equity capital (other than reinvestment of earnings) fell by 91.2% to $7 million from $83 million.
This was mitigated slightly by the 3.6% growth in nonresidents’ reinvestment of earnings to $84 million from $81 million in September 2023.
Bulk of the equity capital placements in September 2024 were sourced from Japan, the United States, and Singapore.
Said investments were channeled mainly to the manufacturing, real estate, information and communication, and wholesale and retail trade industries.
For the first nine months of 2024, FDI net inflows settled at $6.7 billion, a growth of 3.8% from the $6.4 billion net inflows recorded in January-September 2023.