BOI-approved investments down 66% in seven months

Investments approved by the Board of Investments (BOI) declined by 66 percent in the January to July period from a year ago, reflecting cautious investor sentiment following the United States' imposition of reciprocal tariffs.

- By Louella Desiderio

Data from the BOI showed that it approved investments amounting to P398.94 billion in the January to July period, lower than the P1.16-trillion investments cleared in the same period last year.

The BOI-approved investments during the review period are for 111 projects.

The bulk, or 83 percent of the investment approvals from January to July, came from domestic firms.

In particular, investments from local companies amounted to P329.56 billion in the seven-month period, down by 62 percent from P869.70 billion in the same period a year ago.

Foreign investments also fell by 76 percent to P68.88 billion during the review period from P288.26 billion a year ago.

The BOI-approved investments from January to July are expected to create 23,099 jobs, lower than the 27,264 jobs in the same period a year ago.