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FE Online Report
The United States remained the largest recipient of the global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), according to the World Investment Report 2017: Investment and the Digital Economy.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) unveiled the annual flagship report across the world on Wednesday mentioning that global FDI inflow stood at $1.75 trillion in the past year from $1.77 trillion in 2015.
It shows that the US attracted $391 billion in inflows in the last year, up by 12 per cent, from the year before.
The United Kingdom (UK) became the second largest recipient of FDI in past year with $254 billion due to large cross-border mergers and acquisitions deals.
China was in third position with inflows of $134 billion, a slim decrease of 1 per cent from the previous year, according to a press statement of the UN body.
“In 2016, the 2 per cent decline in global FDI flows came amid weak economic growth and significant policy risks, as perceived by multinational enterprises,” the report says.
“Most of the decrease can be ascribed to a sizeable drop in intra-company loans, which was only partly compensated by a rise in equity investments,” it adds.
The report shows that flows to developing countries were especially hard hit, with a decline of 14 per cent, to $646 billion.
“Despite the fall in their inflows, developing economies still accounted for half of the top 10 host economies in 2016,” it says.
- AK