The Philippines registered $1.02 billion in net inflows of foreign portfolio investments or hot money in September 2024, up by 92.1 percent from $533.95 million in August, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Thursday.
This brought the total hot money inflows to $3.02 billion in the first nine months of 2024, a marked improvement from the $387.24-million net outflows noted in the same period last year.
The BSP said transactions on foreign investments registered through authorized agent banks (AABs) showed gross inflows of $2.53 billion and gross outflows of $1.50 billion in September.
Hot money refers to foreign funds temporarily parked in the equities and money market to take advantage of short-term interest.
The BSP said the $2.531 billion registered investments in September were higher by 84.7 percent compared to $1.37 billion gross inflows recorded in August 2024.
About 57.5 percent of registered investments were in in peso government securities ($1.45 billion) with the remaining 42.5 percent in PSE-listed securities ($1.07 billion).
Investments mostly came from the United Kingdom; Singapore; the United States; Luxembourg; and Malaysia with combined share to total at 88.4 percent.
The $1.50 billion gross outflows in September were higher by 80 percent compared to $836.78 million recorded in August 2024. The US remained the top destination of outflows, receiving $769.93 million or 51.1 percent of total outward remittances.
The BSP said that year-on-year, the registered investments in September 2024 amounted to $2.53 billion, up by 185.2 percent from $887.61 million in September 2023, while the gross outflows of $1.50 billion were lower by 5 percent compared to $1.58 billion.
The BSP said registration of inward foreign investments delegated to authorized agent banks by the BSP is optional under the rules on foreign exchange (FX) transactions.
“It is required only if the investor or its representative will purchase FX from authorized agent banks and/or their subsidiary/affiliate foreign exchange corporations for repatriation of capital and remittance of earnings that accrue on the registered investment,” the BSP said.
“Without such registration, the foreign investor can still repatriate capital and remit earnings on its investment but the FX will have to be sourced outside the banking system,” it said.
