By the Malaya Business News Team
Foreign direct investment (FDI) into the Philippines rose to a total $610 million in April 2025, up 7.1 percent from $570 million in the same month last year, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data released on Thursday showed.
The BSP defines FDI as investment made by foreign residents in a Philippine enterprise in which they hold at least 10 percent equity, including intercompany loans and reinvestments.
The modest increase in April was driven mainly by a 24.3 percent jump in net investment in debt instruments — typically intercompany loans — which rose to $522 million from $420 million in April 2024.
Reinvested earnings also edged higher to $84 million from $82 million.
The modest increase was driven mainly by a 24.3 percent jump in net investments in debt instruments — typically intercompany loans — which rose to $522 million from $420 million in April 2024.
Reinvested earnings also edged higher to $84 million from $82 million.
However, fresh equity capital plunged 94.1 percent year-on-year, dropping to just $4 million from $68 million — the lowest monthly figure in recent memory.
The BSP said most equity placements in April came from Japan, the United States, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, with capital channeled into manufacturing, financial services and real estate.FDI to developing countries down — World Bank
A recent World Bank study warned that FDI flows to developing countries have fallen to their lowest levels since 2005.
In a report dated June 16, the World Bank cited rising trade and investment barriers as a growing threat to long-term development.
In 2023 alone, developing economies received just $435 billion in FDI, with half of that year’s FDI-related policy measures classified as restrictive — the highest share in over a decade.
World Bank Chief Economist Indermit Gill was quoted in the report as saying the plunge in FDI is no accident, pointing to rising public debt and worsening policy environments.
“It’s not a coincidence that FDI is plumbing new lows at the same time that public debt is reaching record highs,” he said. “Governments have been busy erecting barriers to investment and trade when they should be deliberately taking them down.”
Despite the April rise, FDI net inflows in the first four months of 2025 totaled only $2.4 billion, down 33.4 percent from the $3.6 billion recorded in the same period last year.
