Foreign portfolio investment transactions result in net outflows in April: BSP 

May 23, 2019

Central bank -registered foreign portfolio investment transactions for April yielded net outflows of $299 million, resulting from gross outflows of $1.3 billion and gross inflows of $990 million, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Thursday.

By instrument, net inflows of less than $1 million were noted for peso time deposits, while net outflows were recorded for all other investment instruments: securities listed at the Philippine Stock Exchange ( $61 million); peso government securities ($238 million); other peso debt instruments and other portfolio instruments (each at less than $1 million).

Gross inflows declined by 42.9 percent from the $1.7 billion figure in March.

This may be attributed to investor reaction to the delayed approval of the 2019 national government budget and the damage caused by the April 22 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 (US) and China, the BSP added.

About 79.2 percent of investments registered during the month were in PSE-listed securities (pertaining mainly to property companies, holding firms, banks, food, beverage and tobacco companies, and transportation services companies); while 20.8 percent went to peso government securities and the balance of about less than one percent went to peso time deposits.

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

Gross outflows for the month ($1.3 billion) were lower by 47.8 percent vis-a-vis the March level ($2.5 billion).

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

Year-on-year, a 28.1 percent decline in gross inflows was noted from the $1.4 billion inflows during the same month last year, while gross outflows increased by 17.5 percent from its $1.1 billion level in April 2018. DMS