‘Hot money’ down in August amid global woes

MANILA, Philippines – Net inflows of foreign portfolio investments or “hot money” in the country fell in August from the previous month and last year as fewer foreign investors entered the market amid the global downturn.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on September 14 that the country registered hot money net inflows of US$387 million, down 59.8% from July’s $963 million, and 1.7% lower than August 2011’s $394 million.

Hot money, one of the indicators of investor confidence in the local economy, gets its name from the ease with which it enters and exits the country.

Registered investments of $1.3 billion were also down 41.8% from July and 6.6% from August last year, the BSP said.

The central bank attributed the decrease to “slower growth of the United States and China, and Europe’s lingering debt crisis.”

It said investments were also affected by the “impact of heavy monsoon rain and (the) flooding that hit the country.”

Investments in the Philippine Stock Exchange mainly poured into: holdings firms ($275 million), property companies ($146 million), banks ($129 million), telecommunication firms ($101 million), and food, beverage and tobacco manufacturers ($72 million).

The top 5 investor countries for August were: the United Kingdom, Singapore, the United States, Hong Kong and Luxembourg.

Outflows also slowed down 27.2% to $868 million in August from $1.2 billion in July. – Rappler.com