Net hot money down 2.7% YoY in November

Net foreign portfolio investments dipped by 2.7 percent year-on-year in November to $980.94 million, according to data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas over the weekend.

According to the central bank, gross inflows for the month amounted to $3 billion, compared to $2 billion in November last year, while gross outflows reached $2 billion from $998 million on year.

The November figures bring the year-to-date inflow to $27.178 billion, up 62 percent than $16.742 billion a year ago; and the year-to-date outflow to $22.599 billion, a 73-percent increase from $13 billion a year ago.

This means a year-to-date net inflow of $4.578 billion. The BSP had earlier set a target of $4.4 billion in net hot money inflows for the year, which the country surpassed as of Nov. 22 when it registered $4.469 billion in total net inflow.

Foreign portfolio investments are placed in stocks, securities and money market accounts. They are also called “hot money” due to the ease with which they can be withdrawn from markets and repatriated back to countries where they came from depending on the fund manager.

“Investments in November consisted of [Philippine Stock Exchange]-listed securities, peso government securities, and peso time deposits,” the BSP said. Investments in PSE-listed securities amounted to 80.5 percent of the total. Investments in peso government securities comprised 15.8 percent, and peso time deposits 3.7 percent, of the total. — BM, GMA News