The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday that $14.60 million in foreign portfolio investment, or “hot money,” entered the economy in January.

According to the central bank’s most recent figures, last month’s net inflows – the result of $731.42 million in gross inflows and $716.82 million in gross outflows – represented a turnaround from net outflow of $4 million in December of the previous year.

The BSP said the $731 million in investments recorded in the first month of the year represented a decline of 45.1%, or $600 million, from the $1.3 billion in December 2021. .

The majority of investments recorded in January were in securities listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange (68%), mainly in holding companies, real estate, banking, food, beverages and tobacco, and telecommunications; the rest (32%) was in government securities in pesos.

With a combined share of 82% for the month, the top five investing countries were the UK, the United States (US), Luxembourg, Switzerland and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the central bank added that total outflows of $717 million in December were 46.4%, or $619 million, lower than the $1.3 billion reported in December 2021. The United States accounted for 75.1% of all releases.