Philippines becomes more investment-driven economy: economist

MANILA, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' economy has become more Investment-led in 2018, the chief economist of the Department of Finance said on Thursday, indicating that the country is enjoying the confidence of foreign investors.

"As percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the capital formation which is the most comprehensive measure of Investment, rose from 24.4 percent in 2016 to 25.1 percent in 2017 and further to 27.0 percent in 2018," said Finance Undersecretary Gil Beltran, the department's chief economist.

Beltran said "capital formation, which is one of the foremost determinants of future growth, in addition to employment and factor productivity," showed a real growth of 9.4 percent in 2017 and 13.9 percent 2018.

"These growth rates compare favorably with the 20-year average of 6.7 percent," Beltran added.

Of the major components of Investments, "fixed capital which consists of construction and durable equipment grew by 9.5 percent in 2017 and 15.6 percent in 2018," he said.

Philippine Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said the 20.1 billion U.S. dollars in net foreign direct Investments (FDIs) over the two-year period of 2017 and 2018 remained "unprecedented" and showed that the upward trajectory of FDI inflows is sustainable in the future.

Data from Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, showed that for 2018, net Investments of equity capital were lower at 2.3 billion U.S. dollars compared to 3.4 billion U.S. dollars recorded in 2017. The bulk of equity capital placements in 2018 were sourced mainly from Singapore, the United States, Japan and China.

These were channelled primarily to manufacturing; financial and insurance; real estate; electricity, gas, steam and air-conditioning supply; and arts, entertainment and recreation industries, the BSP said.