The inflow of foreign direct investments to the Philippines is expected to be higher this year as the global recovery boosts investor confidence.
“There should be an upward drift in FDIs this year relative to 2009,” Philippine Central Bank Officer-in-Charge Diwa C. Guinigundo said at the sidelines of the Financial Education Expo being held here.
FDIs in 2009 rose by 26.2 percent to $1.9 billion. This compared with the 2008 FDI that hit only $1.5 billion, boosting optimism even more should flow inward this year.
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The Philippines said on Thursday its budget deficit in January reached 37.1 billion pesos ($811 million) in January, slightly below its shortfall in the same month of 2009.
The Department of Finance said in a statement the government‘s two main revenue agencies, Bureau of Internal Revenue and Bureau of Customs, posted a 17 percent and 22 percent growth in collections, respectively, in January from a year ago.
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The sharp rise in January’s export revenues has buoyed up hopes that the Philippine export sector is on the road to recovery.
The National Statistics Office (NSO) reported on Monday that the Philippines’ export receipts in January rose by 42.5 percent to $3.58 billion, the highest growth rate posted since April 1995.
The Philippine central bank will pursue its exit strategy slowly with the global economic recovery still fragile, although domestic growth and inflation remained favourable, Governor Amando Tetangco said on Friday.
The Philippine central bank pared back a lending program for banks and said it will consider doing more to reduce cash in the economy, even as it kept interest rates at a record low.
