JANUARY FPI YIELDS $79M NET INFLOWS

PORTFOLIO investment transactions in January 2013 yielded net inflows of $79.69 million, which is an improvement from the $44.42 million net inflows that was recorded during the same period last year.

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), foreign portfolio investments (FPI) for the month of January yielded net inflows 61 percent higher than the figure for December 2012, of which Philippine Stock Exchange ( PSE)- listed securities comprised 65.3 percent, and peso government securities 33.6 percent.

”Registered investments of $2.8 billion were 61.5 percent higher than the level in December 2012, as investors cashed in on gains arising from the record performance of the PSE,” the BSP said.

The main beneficiaries of investments in PSE- listed shares were: holding firms ($743 million), banks ($344 million), property companies ($235 million), telecommunication firms ($ 177 million), and utility companies ($125 million).

Outflows, on the other hand, were almost the same as that for December 2012 ($1.5 billion). Net inflows, however, reached $1.3 billion in January or six times the $213 million level in December.

On a cumulative basis, total registered investments in 2012 reached $18.5 billion, the highest on record in the last 10 years.

Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg and Hong Kong were the top five inves- tor countries for the month. The US continued to be the main beneficiary of outflows from investments.

Registration of inward foreign investments with the BSP is voluntary. It entitles the investor or his representative to buy foreign exchange from authorized agent banks and/ or their subsidiary/ affiliate foreign exchange corporations for repatriation of capital and remittance of dividends/ profits/ earnings that accrue on the registered investment.