The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said $3.716 billion foreign portfolio net outflows for the first 11 months of the year were registered, 135.33 percent more withdrawals than what was reported same time in 2019 of $1.579 billion.

For the month of November only, foreign portfolio investments or hot money registered a net inflow of $226.75 million, the second month in a row of net inflows but lower than October’s $439.46 million.

BSP-registered foreign portfolio investments are inward foreign investments in Philippine Stock Exchange listed securities, peso-denominated government securities, peso debt instruments, unit investment trust funds, and other portfolio investments such as Exchange Traded Funds and Philippine Depositary Receipts

For the January-November period, total inflows amounted to $10.594 billion versus outflows of $14.311 billion.  Both are lower compared to same time in 2019 of $14.588 billion and $17.067 billion, respectively.

For November alone, inflows totaled $1.565 billion while outflows stood at $1.338 billion.

The BSP noted that hot money net ouflows as of end-November was still about investors’ uncertainty about the global health crisis. “(It’s) brought about by uncertainties due, among others, to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to the global economy and financial system along with international and domestic developments such as geopolitical tensions, certain corporate governance issues and extended quarantine measures in select regions in the country,” said the BSP.

The year-to-date transactions for all investments such as listed securities, peso government securities and other investments were in net outflows.

For the monthly data, about 68.1 percent of investments went to listed securities such as banks, property companies, holding firms, food, beverage and tobacco companies and retail firms. The other 31.9 percent were invested in peso government securities.

In the meantime investors in the United Kingdom, Singapore, the US, Hong Kong and Norway led the investor countries in November with 82.4 percent of the total registered hot money flows.

The BSP is projecting that hot money net inflows could still reach $2.8 billion this year and $3.5 billion in 2021 in line with the “consensus view of a recovery in investment sentiment given better global and domestic economic prospects next year.”