Net foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Philippines fell to $77 million in August, down 80 percent from a year ago and nearly 82 percent from July, central bank data on Monday showed. Investors were jittery in August as more financial institutions admitted they were hit hard by a slowing US mortgage market, sending equity markets tumbling across the globe.
Net FDIs amounted to $387 million in August 2006 and $419 million in July this year. Net inflows of FDIs for the first eight months of the year reached $1.7 billion, up 26 percent from a year ago, largely due to a doubling in net equity capital flows in the period to $1.68 billion.
Sectors which benefited from the higher equity capital placements included electronics, health and chemical products, food manufacturing, services, mining, real estate and financial intermediation, the central bank said in a statement. Most of the inflows originated from the United States, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Germany.
But the Southeast Asian country, lumbered with high power costs and decrepit infrastructure, still lags behind its neighbours in attracting foreign capital. Indonesia reported total FDIs of $8.5 billion in the first nine months of the year while China had FDIs of $5.3 billion in September alone and $5 billion in August.
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