Hot money net outflows widen to $351.87M in April

Foreign investments registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) or “hot money” posted higher net outflows in April, data released by the central bank on Thursday revealed.

?Net outflows for the month stood at $351.87 million, wider than the $70.26-million net outflows in March and a reversal of the $1.407-billion net inflows recorded in April 2022.

This comes as gross inflows for the month declined to $712.83 million from $1.255 billion in March, and $2.230 billion in April 2022, with the majority or 57.3% going to securities listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).

The remaining 42.7% went into peso government securities, while less than 1% went into other instruments.

The top investor countries for the month were the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Luxembourg, and Norway, which had a combined share of 84.1%.

Gross outflows for the month stood at $1.064 billion, lower than the $1.326 billion in March, but higher than the $823.32 million in April 2022. The United States accounts for 70.9% of total outward remittances.

The latest figures brought the year-to-date investments to $680.07 million in net outflows, a reversal of the $1.390-billion net inflows in the comparable period of 2022.

The registration of inward foreign investments delegated to all authorized agent banks (AABs) by the BSP is optional and required only if it involves foreign exchange purchases for repatriation of capital and remittances of earnings.

Without the registration, the BSP said foreign investors can still repatriate capital and remit earnings on their investment, but the foreign exchange will have to be sourced outside the banking system.—AOL, GMA Integrated News