$299M net ‘hot money’ exited PHL in April

Foreign portfolio investments yielded a net outflow of $299 million in April, a reversal from a $279-million net inflow last year, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed Thursday.

Also known as "hot money" because of the ease by which these funds enter and exit markets, the gross outflows of $1.3 billion last month were higher than the gross inflows of $990 million.

"This may be attributed to investor reaction to the delayed approval of the 2019 national government budget and the damage caused by the 22 April earthquake that jolted parts of Luzon and Visayas," the BSP said.

"Investors also stayed cautious amid the lack of fresh catalysts in the market and ongoing trade negotiations between the United States and China," the central bank said.

About 79.2% of investments registered during the month were in Philippine Stock Exchange-listed securities, mainly property companies, holding firms, banks, food, beverage and tobacco companies, and transportation services companies.

The remainder went to peso government securities, with less than 1.0 percent going to peso time deposits.

The United Kingdom, US, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Luxembourg were the top five investor countries for the month, with combined share to total at 84.8%.

The US continued to be the main destination of outflows, receiving 71.1 percent of total remittances. — BM, GMA News