The UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has issued a warning that global foreign direct investment (FDI) could drop by up to 15% on previous estimates due to the Coronavirus outbreak. Reports: The downward pressure on FDI will be -5% to -15%, as compared to previous forecasts that projects marginal growth in the FDI trend for 2020-2021. UNCTAD stated that the impact on FDI would be concentrated in the countries that are most severely hit by the Coronavirus outbreak. The economic impact of supply chain disruptions will affect investment prospects in other countries. It also projected a stable level of global FDI inflows in 2020-2021 with a potential increase of +5%, which is relatively marginal for FDI. UNCTAD highlighted that the top 5000 MNEs, which accounts for a significant share of global FDI, have shown downward revisions of 9% due to Covid-19. Also, the automotive industry with -44%, airlines with -42% and energy and basic materials industries with -13%. The developing country multinational enterprises (MNE) profit guidance has been revised downwards by 16%.
