MANILA, Philippines - The inflow of fresh capital into the country remained anemic in 2009 as the Board of Investments (BOI), the country’s top investment promotions agency, announced that it is likely to miss its target anew of at least equaling the P287 billion worth of projects that were committed in 2008.

“We might miss our target slightly,” Trade Undersecretary and BOI managing head Elmer Hernandez told reporters. He said the global economic crisis again took its toll on the investment climate not just in the Philippines, but in other countries as well.

Hernandez said that, according to his Indonesian counterpart, the country will suffer a steeper decline in committed investments this year.

He said the decline is noticeable in the foreign direct investment.

 However, based on the late surge of new project registrations in the latter part of the year, recovery could be forthcoming in 2010, in his view.

“Investments were coming in toward the end of the year because the economy is improving,” he said.

The big investment leads that the BOI are working on, Hernandez said, are expected to materialize as early as the first quarter of 2010.

The Philippines, Hernandez noted, did not do that badly in 2009, as the combined new investment commitments from the BOI-Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) would still be in the vicinity of a 0% to 5% growth.

The government targeted to exceed by up to 5% the P441.77 billion in fresh investment commitments that the BOI and Peza generated in 2008.

Hernandez said the full data for the new investment commitments in 2009 will probably be available in the first week of January.