Foreign investments registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, through Authorized Agent Banks yield net outflows in 2023
Transactions on foreign investments registered with the BSP, through authorized agent banks, in December 2023 recorded net outflows of $205 million resulting from the $1.3 billion gross outflows and the $1.1 billion gross inflows for the month. The recorded net outflows are a reversal of the $673 million net inflows posted in November 2023.
The $1.1 billion registered investments for the month are lower by $509 million (or by 32.3 percent) compared to the $1.6 billion recorded in November 2023.
During the month, 52.9 percent of registered investments were in PSE-listed securities ($564 million) [most of which were investments made in: (a) banks; (b) holding firms; (c) property; (d) transportation services; and (e) food, beverage and tobacco], while 47.1 percent where in Peso government securities and the remaining [less than one (1) percent] were in other instruments. Investments for the month mostly came from the United Kingdom (UK), Singapore, United States (US), Luxembourg, and Hongkong with combined share to total at 83.3 percent.
The $1.3 billion gross outflows for the month were larger by $369 million (or by 40.9 percent) compared to the gross outflows recorded for November 2023 ($902 million). The US remains to be the top destination of outflows, receiving $677 million (or 53.3 percent) of total outward remittances.
On a year-on-year basis, registered investments in December 2023 are lower by $26 million (or by 2.4 percent) than the $1.1 billion recorded in December 2022. Similarly, gross outflows increased by $272 million (or by 27.2 percent) vis-a-vis the gross outflows posted in December 2022 ($999 million).
The $205 million net outflows in December 2023 were a reversal from the $93 million net inflows recorded for the same period a year ago.
For the whole year of 2023, foreign investments registered with the BSP, through authorized agent banks, aggregated $12.9 billion, reflecting a 4.4 percent increase (or by $542 million) compared to the $12.3 billion level in 2022.
These investments were predominantly investments in PSE-listed securities (57.3 percent) mostly in (a) banks; (b) property; (c) holding firms; (d) food, beverage & tobacco; and (e) transportation services, while the balance was invested in Peso GS (42.7 percent) and other investments (less than 1.0 percent). The UK, US, Singapore, Luxembourg, and Japan were the top five (5) investor countries during the year, with combined share to total at 83.5 percent.
Recorded outflows ($13.1 billion) for 2023 were larger compared to previous year’s $11.5 billion (by 14.6 percent or $1.7 billion). Majority (or 95.1 percent) of these outflows represented capital repatriation while the remaining 4.9 percent pertained to remittance of earnings. The US continued to be the main destination of outflows with 63.6 percent of total.
Transactions on foreign investments registered with the BSP, through authorized agent banls, from January 1 to December 31 2023 yielded net outflows of $247 million, a reversal from the $887 million net inflows noted for the same period last year
On a per instrument level, transactions in PSE-listed shares resulted in net outflows of $1.0 billion which is a reversal from the $179 million net inflows last year, while those for Peso GS recorded net inflows of $781 million, higher compared to last year’s $694 million net inflows. BSP
