Foreign portfolio investments, or hot money, posted net outflows of $374 million in April, lower than the $541-million net outflows in March, as fund managers reacted to the easing inflation rate and rollout of COVID vaccination program, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Friday.
Data showed the figure was a result of the $1-billion gross outflows and $651-million gross inflows during the month. The $651-million registered investments in April 2021 reflected a 21-percent (or by $173 million) decline compared to the $824 million recorded in March 2021.
“Developments during the month included investor reaction to easing inflation, contraction of the country’s gross domestic product in 2020, extension of local quarantine measures, progress of the government’s vaccination program and the continued rise of infections in the country,” the BSP said in a statement.
About 68.9 percent of investments were in Philippine Stock Exchange-listed securities while the remaining 31.1 percent went to investments in peso government securities.