Foreign portfolio investments or hot money posted net outflows of $352 million in April, a reversal from the $1.4-billion net inflows a year ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Thursday.
The April net inflows resulted from gross outflows of $1.1 billion and gross inflows of $713 million. Most investments (or 57.3 percent) were in Philippine Stock Exchange-listed securities which were placed in banks, holding firms, property, food, beverage and tobacco and transportation services, while the balance went to peso government securities (42.7 percent) and other instruments.
Data from the BSP showed that in the first four months, hot money yielded net outflows of $680 million, a reversal of the $1.4-billion net inflows recorded in the same period last year.
Registration of inward foreign investments delegated to authorized agent banks by the BSP is optional under the rules on foreign exchange transactions. Portfolio investments are also called “hot money” because of the ease they are invested in and taken out of domestic financial markets.