Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) revealed yesterday that long-term foreign direct investments (FDI) fell in February by 59%. This means that there are fewer foreigners investing in the country this year compared to last year.

FDIs are considered long-term investments because they are usually used by foreigners to fund new ventures or expand existing ventures in the Philippines. Industries that are usually funded through foreign investments include manufacturing, real estate, mining, finance/insurance and wholesale/retail.

BSP said in a statement that FDI in February fell to $350 million. This is caused by the decline of new investments using equity capital by 75% and the decline of re-invested earnings of existing foreign companies by 85%.

Compared to February last year, overall FDIs that entered the Philippines this year fell by 24.7%.

The central bank explained that the decline in FDIs is the result of foreign fund managers now becoming more interested to invest in richer countries.