BSP-registered foreign portfolio investments (FPIs) in March yielded net outflows of $305 million resulting from the $1.6 billion gross outflows and $1.3 billion gross inflows for the month.

This a reversal from the net inflows of $274 million recorded in February, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Thursday.

The $1.3 billion registered investments for March reflected an increase of 35.3 percent (or by $333 million) compared to the $945 million recorded in February.

Majority of investments (or 86.7 percent) registered were in PSE-listed securities [investments mainly in: (a) holding firms; (b) property; (c) banks; (d) food, beverage and tobacco; and (e) transportation services] while the remaining 13.3 percent went to investments in Peso government securities.

The top five investor countries for the month were the United Kingdom, United States, Luxembourg, Singapore and Hong Kong with combined share to total at 78.4 percent.

The $1.6 billion gross outflows for the month were higher by 136.1 percent (or by $912 million) than the $670 million recorded in February. The US received 80.3 percent of total remittances.

Year-on-year, registered investments in March increased by 55 percent (or by $453 million) from the $824 million recorded in March 2021.

Similarly, gross outflows were larger by 15.9 percent (or by $218 million) than the outflows recorded a year ago ($1.4 billion). The $305 million net outflows in March is smaller compared to the $541 million net outflows recorded for the same period a year ago.

Year-to-date transactions (January 1 to March 31) for BSP-registered FPIs yielded net outflows of $16 million, smaller by 96.6 percent (or by $467 million) than the $483 million net outflows noted for the same period last year (January 1 to March 31 2021). BSP