Foreign portfolio investments last year yielded net inflows of $354 million, reversing outflows of $600 million in 2015, the central bank said Thursday.

The inflows were largely due to an initial public offering by an industrial company, equity investments in two holding companies and a universal bank, and renewed interest in peso government securities, the central bank added.

Outflows for 2016 of $17.2 billion were 16.1 percent lower compared to $20.5 billion in 2015, it added. Around 96.8 percent of total outflows were capital repatriation while the remaining 3.2 percent were remittance of savings.

The United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, Luxembourg and Hong Kong were the top five investors in 2016, drawing a combined 77 percent of total inflows. The United States remained the main destination of outflows, with 83 percent of the total. DMS