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FDI INFLOWS UP IN MAY, BOOSTING 5-MO. TOTAL www.businessmirror.com.ph
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Thursday, August 11, 2022 Vol. 17 No. 307
P. | | 7 DAYS A WEEK
@BcuaresmaBM
ONG-TERM investments by foreign investors to the Philippines continued to grow in May this year compared to its 2021 level, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Tuesday. Data from the BSP showed that foreign direct investments (FDI) recorded a 64.1-percent expansion to $742 million in May this year, from its $452-million level in the same month last year. This is, however, lower than the previous month’s $989-million FDI net inflow and the second lowest monthly FDI for the first five months of 2022. The incurred FDI net inflows during the month brought the cumulative five-month FDI net inflows to $4.2 billion, higher by 18.8 percent from the $3.5 billion seen in the same January to May period in 2021. FDI are investments made by foreign players to the Philippines in the hopes of long-term return. Since these are in the country for a longer-term compared
to their short-term counterpart, the foreign portfolio investments (FPI), FDI usually create jobs for Filipinos and have a multiplier effect on the economy. In May 2022, FDI grew largely due to net inflows from non-residents’ net investments in debt instruments and equity capital of their local affiliates. By country of source, equity capital placements came largely from Japan, the United States, Singapore and the Netherlands. These were invested mostly in manufacturing; real estate; information and communication; and transportation and storage industries. The BSP, meanwhile, attributed the five-month growth of the country’s FDI level to the increase in S “FDI,” A
PALACE DENIES MARCOS OKAYED SUGAR IMPORTS B S P. M @sam_medenilla
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ALACAÑANG on Wednesday denied that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. approved the importation of 300,000 metric tons (MT) of sugar to address the local supply shortage of the sweetener. In a brief statement, Press Secretary Beatrix “Trixie” CruzAngeles said Marcos, who is also the concurrent Agriculture Secretary, did not sign any order for the importation. “The President rejected the proposal to import an additional 300,000 MT of sugar. He is the chairman of the Sugar Regulatory Board and denied this in no uncertain terms,” Angeles said. As of press time, Angeles has yet to disclose why Marcos rejected the proposed importation. The Palace official made the statement after an order allowing
for the importation was posted on the web site of the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) on Wednesday afternoon. In that document, Agriculture Undersecretary Leocadio Sebastian signed on behalf of Marcos, the concurrent agriculture secretary. The other signatories were SRA Board Vice Chairman Hermenegildo R. Serafica, SRA Miller’s Representative Roland B. Beltran, and SRA Planter’s Representative Aurelio Gerardo J. Valderrama Jr. Following Angeles’s statement on the matter, the document was taken down from the SRA web site. Stakeholders have been pushing for the importation, citing a record low local sugar production which can no longer keep up with local demand. The supply shortage led to the S “P,” A
RECORD RAIN A part of a main road along the Han River is flooded due to heavy rain in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, August 10, 2022. Seven people remain missing in Seoul and nearby Gyeonggi Province following the heavy rains that swamped the region Monday and Tuesday, turning streets into car-clogged rivers, sending floods cascading into subway stations, triggering landslides that crashed into roads and buildings, and displacing more than 1,800 people from their homes. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called for significant improvements to the country’s flood management systems, including building more rain tanks and tunnels and improving flood-prediction technologies, citing the growing challenges posed by extreme weather events. AP/AHN YOUNG-JOON
Biz groups urge govt: Allow stopgap sugar importation B A E. S J
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USINESS groups are urging the government to allow importation of sugar to address the shortage in supply and the increasing prices of refined sugar, sweetened food and beverage products. With the new order of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. to revive and modernize the agriculture sector, business groups hope that the sugar industry will be given the right technology and farming support to increase its production in order to meet domestic requirements. However, the business groups said, “while we have yet to address
the productivity issue, importation at this point is the alternative recourse to mitigate the negative impact on the supply.” In a statement on Wednesday, the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Philippine Food Exporters (Philfoodex), and Philippine Exporters Confederation (Philexport) said they are calling on the government to immediately look into the crippling supply of sugar, which they said is expected to hurt both the local food processors and manufacturers and the consumers in general. According to the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA), the “B,” A
PESO EXCHANGE RATES ■ US 55.5420 ■ JAPAN 0.4111 ■ UK 67.0836 ■ HK 7.0758 ■ SINGAPORE 40.2916 ■ AUSTRALIA 38.6906 ■ SAUDI ARABIA 14.7757 ■ EU 56.7362 ■ KOREA 0.0425 ■ CHINA 8.2249 Source: BSP (August 10, 2022)