Net hot money inflow hits $431.4 million in 11 months

MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported yesterday that foreign portfolio investments inflow registered in the first 11 months of the year amounted to $431.42 million on the back of sustained remittances, strong international reserves, healthy banking system, robust corporate earnings, and rising price of gold.

BSP Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. said in a statement that foreign portfolio investment inflow recorded from January to November this year was a complete reversal of the $1.7 billion net outflow registered in the same period last year.

“Foreign investors continued to bet on the Philippine market on account of the sustained growth in overseas Filipino remittances, robust reserves, healthy banking system, better-than-expected corporate earnings, and the run up in the price of gold,” Tetangco stressed.

He reported that major sources of foreign portfolio investments from January to November include the US, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Japan, and Luxemburg.

Data showed that foreign portfolio investment inflow fell 26.4 percent to $5.873 billion in the first 11 months of the year from $7.979 billion in the same period last year.

On the other hand, statistics showed that outflows plunged by 43.8 percent to $5.441 billion in the first 11 months of the year from $9.682 billion investments pulled out of the Philippines in the same period last year.

For the month of November alone, Tetangco said portfolio investments registered a net inflow of $73.12 million that was a complete reversal of the net outflow of $401.79 million in the same month last year.

He pointed out that foreign portfolio investment inflows inched up by 7.9 percent to $431.25 million last month from $399.51 million in the same month last year.

Of the total amount, the BSP chief said about 87 percent were invested in shares being traded at the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) while the remaining 13 percent were infused in peso-denominated debt papers.

Tetangco said major sources of portfolio investments last month were the United Kingdom, the US, and Hong Kong.

On the other hand, the BSP said outflows in November dropped by 55.3 percent to $358.12 million from $801.3 million in the same month last year.

He pointed out that the outflows consisted mainly of withdrawals from interim peso deposits.

The BSP sees a net inflow of $3 billion instead of only $600 million this year from a net outflow of $1.78 billion last year. Last year, investment outflows amounted to $10.1 billion versus an inflow of $8.32 billion in 2007. –Lawrence Agcaoli (The Philippine Star)