Resurgent global economic climate and sustained domestic expansionwere to push foreign direct investments (FDI) some $1 billion higher this year than originally projected, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Monday.
According to the BSP, FDI, the kind of investment the government prefers because it stays for the long haul, were to aggregate more or less $8 billion this year, higher than the $7 billion when first projected.
“This is the recovery of the manufacturing sector and sustained growth in the services sectors, as well as the implementation of the PPP projects awarded in previous periods,” said Zeno Abenoja, director at the department of economic research at BSP.
“This is also in line with the expected improvement in global economic conditions relative to 2016. So the push and pull conditions are seen to be favorable in terms of the FDI inflows,” he added.
Latest data from the central bank showed FDI aggregating $509 million in March this year, up by 30.6 percent from $390 million in the comparable period last year.