The Philippines retained $81 million in foreign funds in the first half of 2024 despite volatile stock and money markets.
The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Thursday that foreign portfolio investments, or “hot money,” resulted in net inflows in the first six months, a reversal from the $804 million in net outflows recorded in the same period last year.
However, transactions registered through banks showed net outflows of $27 million in June, due to $1.1 billion in gross outflows and $1 billion in gross inflows. This reversed the $43 million in net inflows posted in May.
Registered investments in June totaled $1 billion, a 1-percent or $10-million decline from May’s $1.1 billion.
About 52.8 percent of registered investments, or $551 million, were in peso government securities, while the remaining 47.2 percent — $492 million — were in Philippine Stock Exchange-listed securities. Most investments targeted holding firms, banks, transportation services, property, and electricity, energy, power and water.
The United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Luxembourg, and Switzerland were the top sources of foreign funds.
June’s $1.1 billion in gross outflows increased 6 percent or $60 million from May’s $1 billion.
The BSP said that on a year-on-year basis, registered investments in June rose 17.2 percent from $889 million, while gross outflows climbed 20.3 percent from $889 million.
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