BSP facade (File photo)
MANILA – Foreign portfolio investments or hot money registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) through authorized banks recorded net inflows of USD689 million in February this year.
Data released by the BSP late Wednesday showed that this resulted from the USD1.5 billion gross inflows and USD859 million gross outflows for the month.
The net inflow last month is a reversal from the USD76 million net outflows recorded in January 2024.
Foreign portfolio investments are also called hot money due to the speed with which they come in and out of the economy.
The USD1.5 billion registered investments for the month are higher by 25.3 percent compared to the USD1.2 billion recorded in January 2024.
During the month, 61.4 percent of registered investments were in Peso Government Securities (GS) while the remaining 38.6 percent were in Philippine Stock Exchange-listed securities most of which were investments made in banks, transportation services, holding firms, property, food, beverage, and tobacco.
Investments for the month mostly came from the United Kingdom, Singapore, the United States, Luxembourg, and Hong Kong.
The USD859 million gross outflows for the month meanwhile went down by 34.5 percent from the USD1.3 billion recorded gross outflows in January.
The US remains the top destination of outflows, receiving USD485 million of total outward remittances.
For the first two months of the year, foreign investments registered with the BSP, through authorized agent banks, yielded net inflows of USD613 million, a turnaround compared to the USD258 million net outflows noted for the same period last year. (PNA)
