Net inflows of foreign direct investment to the Philippines declined in the first two months of the year, pulled down by a slump in February, according to a report by the country's central monetary authority, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

The February FDI net flows amounted to $97 million, down by 70 percent against the year-before level of $326 million, Bangko Sentral said.

The total for the first two months settled at $304 million, or a drop of nearly 39 percent from the year-ago $496 million.

The Philippines attracting one of the smallest amounts of FDIs among the Southeast Asian economies for the past years due to poor perceptions about the country's investment climate, according to economists.

The slump in the first two months of 2011, according to Bangko Sentral, was due to "subdued" investor sentiment brought about by the unrest in some parts of the Middle East and North Africa, as well as sovereign debt concerns in some European economies.

Expectations of monetary tightening in Asia in the wake of inflationary concerns also contributed to the weak FDI flows, said the Bangko Sentral.

Of the investments that came in as of February, net inflows of equity capital settled at $35 million, down by 28.6 percent compared to the $49 million posted last year.

Equity inflows for the first two months of the year came mostly from investors based in the U.S., Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, and Germany.

These investments went mainly to real estate, mining and quarrying, manufacturing (chemicals), administrative and support services (business process outsourcing), and agriculture, the central bank said.

Bangko Sentral also reported that the other capital account, consisting mainly of intercompany borrowing/lending between foreign direct investors and their subsidiaries/affiliates in the Philippines, posted net inflows of $181 million, largely on account of trade credits extended by affiliates abroad.

This level represented a decline of 39.3 percent from the $298 million net inflows recorded last year.

Reinvested earnings during the two-month period amounted to $88 million, also lower than the $149 million posted in the previous year, Bangko Sentral said.