Foreign direct investments to the Philippines rose 27 percent to 2.35 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, beating projections, the central bank or the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Friday.

The central bank said FDIs are expected to reach 2.119 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2007.

The BSP said the increase in FDI last year was due to inflows into business activities in the country, and increased inter- company fund transfers.

The BSP said foreign direct investments for December alone grew 5.7 percent at 130 million U.S. dollars.

Japan, the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland were the biggest sources of direct investments, the BSP said.

Source: Xinhua