SHORT-TERM investments made by international players continued to flow out of the country in the first weeks of October, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed.
According to the Central Bank, registered foreign portfolio investments (FPI) for the first two weeks of October hit a net outflow of $101.29 billion.
This is a continuation of the net outflows seen in the previous month at $440 million. It is, however, smaller compared to the $625.5-million net outflow seen in the same period last year.
FPI are known as “hot” or “speculative” money because they are easily pulled in and out of the local platforms in the slight change of global and local sentiment.
This brings the total FPI net inflow of the country to $60.43 million for the entire year up until October 12.
Despite the small net inflow, this is still a better indicator compared to the $831.8-million net outflow seen in the same period last year.
Last month the BSP attributed the net outflow of FPI to investors’ continuing concerns on trade tensions between the United States and China, the weakening of the Philippine peso and the continued uptick in inflation which may have been aggravated by the effects of Typhoon Ompong (international code name Mangkhut).
The US continued to be the main destination of outflows, receiving 73.7 percent of total hot money remittances during the month.