Opportunistic foreign investments that flowed out on gross basis in December last year accelerated by 84 percent the following January when this aggregated USD1.311 billion, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reported on Thursday.
The continued exodus of foreign investments in January this year resulted to a net outflow of portfolio funds, also called “hot” money, totaling USD75.83 million and a reversal from year-ago net inflows of USD291.35 million.
This developed even as gross inflows in January this year proved 23 percent higher to USD1.235 billion versus a year earlier when this totaled only USD1 billion, indicating increased skittishness among foreign fund managers whose job is to optimize the return of their respective investment portfolios.
The bulk or 63 percent of the portfolio investments were invested in stocks traded at the Philippine Stock Exchange worth USD775 million owned by banks, holding companies, property developers, transport companies as well as food, beverage and tobacco manufacturers.
More than 37 percent of the funds, or USD460 million, were invested in government securities which are local currency denominated IOUs of the government. According to the BSP, the fund managers were from the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Luxembourg and Hong Kong that accounted for 86 percent of total.
Rules require fund managers to register their investments with the BSP so that when they repatriate their positions back to their foreign principals they may avail of the services of the local banking system. Unregistered portfolio investments are excluded from enjoying repatriation privileges granted registered investors.
