BSP sees ‘hot money’ coming back

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ngPilipinas (BSP) expects the country to post net inflow of foreign portfolio investments this month, following substantial net outflows in the past months.

The BSP said the appreciation of the peso by the closing of foreign-exchange trading last week was prompted partly by inflows of investments in stocks, bonds and other securities.

The peso last Friday nearly broke into the 46-to-a-dollar territory, registering an intra-day high of 47.03 against the greenback. It ended the trading day at 47.04, up 19 centavos from the previous day’s close of 47.23.

“The US dollar had weakened. There has been an increase in risk appetite among investors, and this benefited emerging economies like the Philippines in terms of higher portfolio inflows,” BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said.

But Tetangco also said the appreciation of the peso was partly attributed to strong inflow of remittances from overseas Filipino workers, who usually send more money to their families in May in time for school opening.

Asked whether the movement of the peso could signal a net inflow of hot money for May, the central bank governor said “yes.” Tetangco added that based on reports by some banks, the inflows of portfolio investments so far seen this month outweighed the outflows.

“The net inflow of foreign portfolio investments is happening now,” he said.

In April, the country posted a $276.1 million in net outflow of “hot money,” higher than the $157.45 million posted in the same month a year ago.

Analysts said this was because investors were still staying on the sidelines, waiting for indications of a gradual recovery of the global economy.

The net outflow last month was brought about by the $435.3 million worth of gross inflows and $711.4 million worth of gross outflows.

The BSP said the outflows consisted largely of withdrawn bank deposits and stock market investments that were pulled out.

Tetangco said talks about probable end of the recession in the United States and Europe by early next year, if not by the end of this year, helped revive appetite for portfolio investments in emerging markets.–Michelle Remo, Philippine Daily Inquirer