Global foreign direct investment rebounds with some difficulty in 1st half of year

By Emir Yildirim

ISTANBUL (AA) — Global foreign direct investment flows rebounded in the first half of the year to $802 billion from $727 billion a year before, according to data released Thursday.

The majority of the increase to foreign direct investment came in the first quarter, during which the figure more than doubled, while they dropped 36% the next quarter, indicated the data by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Inflows of foreign direct investment rose 80% in the first half of the year in the OECD area mainly due to disinvestments in the Netherlands, the organization said.

Excluding highly fluctuating flows into Luxembourg and the Netherlands, foreign direct investments were found to have declined 14%.

The largest recipient was the US in the first half of the year, followed by Brazil and Mexico.

Meanwhile, a marginal rise of 16% in cross-border merger and acquisitions were observred in advanced economies.

“Capital expenditures of announced greenfield investment projects experienced a significant decline in emerging markets and developing economies, hitting their lowest quarterly levels over the past two years in Q2,” the OECD said.