* July net inflow $108 mln vs June's $73 mln
* Jan-July net inflow at $1 bln, up 80.5 pct on yr
MANILA, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The Philippine central bankreleased on Wednesday preliminary data on net foreign directinvestments (FDIs) in July:July Jun May Apr Mar Feb JanNet FDI(in $ mln) 108 73 7 -13 14 58 778KEY POINTS:
- Net FDI inflows of $108 million in July compare with netoutflows of $261 million in the same month last year.
- Net inflows in January to July totalled $1 billion, nearlytwice the $568 million recorded last year, driven by higherequity capital investments.
- The increase in FDI inflows reflected foreign investor'sgrowing optimism on the country's macroeconomic fundamentals,the central bank said in a statement.
- The bulk of the investments in July originated from theUnited States, Thailand and Japan, benefiting the manufacturing,real estate, mining and financial intermediation sectors.
- Net foreign direct investment, portfolio inflows andremittances from Filipinos working and living overseas help keepthe country's balance of payments (BOP) in surplus.
- The Philippines posted a BOP surplus of $582 million inAugust, bringing the January-August surplus to 5.08 billion.
- The central bank has said it is reviewing its forecast of$2.6 billion for this year's balance of payments surplus, withthe possible upward revision likely to be announced this month.
LINKS:
For details click on central bank website,
(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Jijo Jacob)
((karen.lema@thomsonreuters.com)(+632 841-8938)(ReutersMessaging: karen.lema.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Keywords: PHILIPPINES ECONOMY/FDI