BOI recalibrates target approvals up to P1.6 trillion

MANILA, Philippines — The Board of Investments (BOI) is considering increasing the upper limit of its investment approvals target for this year as there are around P1 trillion worth of projects looking to register with the agency.

“Considering the pipeline, we are thinking of adjusting the upper limit (of the target) to P1.6 trillion,” Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Ceferino Rodolfo told reporters.

The BOI is aiming to approve around P1.25 trillion to P1.5 trillion worth of investments this year.

Rodolfo said there are around P2.32 trillion projects endorsed by the BOI for green lane processing, but only P1.31 trillion have registered with the agency so far.

“So in effect, you still have P1 trillion that has not yet registered in the pipeline,” he said.

Projects endorsed for green lane services can enjoy expedited processing of permits.

Rodolfo said the BOI continues to aggressively promote and convert projects in the pipeline to actual registration.

He said the BOI is also considering raising the upper limit of its investment approvals target as it is encouraged by the latest foreign direct investment (FDI) data.

Data released by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas showed FDI inflows rose by 19 percent to $3.53 billion in the January to April period from $2.97 billion in the same period a year ago, despite the 37 percent year-on-year drop posted in April alone.

Investments approved by the BOI from January to June this year reached P950 billion, up by 36 percent from the P698 billion in the same period a year ago.

Earlier, Rodolfo said the BOI is on track to hit and even exceed its investment approvals goal this year.

Last year, investments for projects approved by the BOI hit a record-high of P1.26 trillion.