FDI jumps 21% in May, down in first 5 months

NET INFLOWS of foreign direct investments (FDI) into the Philippines rose by 21.3% year on year in May but declined by 26.9% in the first five months of the year, preliminary data from the central bank showed.

- - Katherine K.Chan

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said the net inflows of FDI jumped by 21.3% to $586 million in May from $483 million in the same month in 2024, with “inflows from the United States and into manufacturing taking the lead.”

Month on month, net inflows of FDIs slipped by 3.9% from $610 million in April.

“The (year-on-year) increase resulted from the significant expansion in nonresidents’ net investments in debt instruments, which rose by 88.3% year-on-year, from $227 million to $427 million,” the BSP said.

Investments in equity and investment fund shares dropped by 38% to $159 million in May from $256 million in the same month in 2024.

This was due to the 61.4% decline in nonresidents' net investments in equity capital (excluding reinvestment of earnings) to $62 million in May from $161 million a year ago.

Reinvestment of earnings also inched up by 1.4% year on year to $97 million in May.

Nearly half (49%) of gross placements of equity capital went into manufacturing, followed by real estate activities (14%); and electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply (13%).

In May, the bulk of FDI inflows came from the US (36%) and Japan (33%), followed by Singapore (12%) and South Korea (12%).