Foreign investments registered with BSP yield net inflows in November 2023

Transactions on foreign investments registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), through authorized agent banks (AABs)*, in November 2023 recorded net inflows of US$673 million resulting from the US$1.6 billion gross inflows and the US$902 million gross outflows for the month. The recorded net inflows are a reversal of the net outflows posted in October 2023 (US$328 million).

The US$1.6 billion registered investments for the month are higher by US$620 million (or by 65.0 percent) compared to the US$954 million recorded in October 2023.

During the month, 71.4 percent of registered investments were in Peso government securities (US$1.1 billion), while about 28.6 percent were in PSE-listed securities (US$450 million) [most of which were investments made in: (a) banks; (b) holding firms; (c) property; (d) transportation services; and (e) food, beverage and tobacco], and the remaining [less than one (1) percent] were in other instruments. Investments for the month mostly came from the United Kingdom, Singapore, United States, Luxembourg, and Hongkong with combined share to total at 91.9 percent.

The US$902 million gross outflows for the month were lower by US$381 million (or by 29.7 percent) compared to the gross outflows recorded for October 2023 (US$1.3 billion).  The US remains to be the top destination of outflows, receiving US$529 million (or 58.6 percent) of total outward remittances.

On a year-on-year basis, registered investments in November 2023 are higher by US$520 million (or by 49.4 percent) than the US$1.1 billion recorded in November 2022. Similarly, gross outflows increased by US$336 million (or by 59.4 percent) vis-à-vis the gross outflows posted in November 2022 (US$566 million).

The US$673 million net inflows in November 2023 were also larger by 184 million (or by 37.7 percent) than the US$489 million net inflows recorded for the same period a year ago.

Year-to-date transactions (01 January to 30 November 2023) for foreign investments registered with the BSP, through AABs, yielded net outflows of US$42 million which were a reversal compared to the US$794 million net inflows noted for the same period last year (01 January to 30 November 2022).

Registration of inward foreign investments delegated to AABs by the BSP is optional under the rules on foreign exchange (FX) transactions. It is required only if the investor or its representative will purchase FX from AABs and/or their subsidiary/affiliate foreign exchange corporations for repatriation of capital and remittance of earnings that accrue on the registered investment.  Without such registration, the foreign investor can still repatriate capital and remit earnings on its investment but the FX will have to be sourced outside the banking system.

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*These investments refer to the following inward foreign investments registered with AABs: PSE-listed securities; Peso-denominated government securities; Peso time deposits with banks with minimum tenor of 90 days; other Peso debt instruments; unit investment trust funds; and other instruments such as Exchange Traded Funds and Philippine Depositary Receipts.