NET inflows of foreign direct investments (FDI) plunged to a four-year low of $7.64 billion last year, but surpassed the full-year target of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Central bank data showed that the amount — the lowest since 2015’s $5.63 billion — was a 23.1-percent decrease from $9.94 billion in 2018. It also aims to modernize the country’s incentive system to make tax perks performance-based, time-bound, targeted and transparent. For December alone, net FDI inflows expanded by 69 percent to $1.15 billion from $586 million a year earlier. “Net FDI inflows may be hampered, as many of the advanced economies, particularly… the United States, may have to deal with the economic fall out of a protracted Covid-19 outbreak affecting consumption demand in many of the said developed economies,” he explained.

Source: Manila Times March 10, 2020 18:11 UTC