Transactions on foreign investments registered with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas through authorized agent banks (AABs) recorded in June net inflows of $1 million after four consecutive months of net outflows.
The banks registered $889M gross inflows for the month, narrowly surpassing the gross outflows of $888M. The recorded net inflows are also a reversal from the net outflows posted in May of $124M and in June 2022 ($342M).
The $889M registered investments for the month are higher by $45M or by 5.3 percent compared to the $845M recorded in May 2023.
Majority of registered investments ($700M or 78.7 percent) were in PSE-listed securities (investments mainly in property, banks, holding firms; food, beverage and tobacco; and telecommunications, while the remaining were in peso GS ($190M or 21.3 percent) and in other instruments (less than one percent).
The top five investor countries for the month were the United Kingdom, United States, Luxembourg, Singapore, and Switzerland with combined share to total at 84.2 percent.
The $888M gross outflows for the month were lower by $81M (or by 8.4 percent) compared to gross outflows recorded for May 2023 ($969M). The U.S. received $589M (or 66.3 percent) of total outward remittances.
Year-on-year, registered investments in June 2023 are lower than the $1 billion recorded in June 2022 by $149M (or by 14.4 percent), while gross outflows also dropped by $493M (or by 35.7 percent) vis-à-vis the gross outflows posted in June 2022 ($1.4B). The $1M net inflows in June 2023 is an improvement from the $342M net outflows recorded for the same period a year ago.
Year-to-date transactions (Jan. 1 to June 30, 2023) for foreign investments registered with the BSP, through AABs, yielded net outflows of $803M, which is a reversal of the $778M net inflows noted for the same period last year (Jan. 1 to June 30, 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. – Press release
