Philippine 'hot money' inflows hit $895 M in July

MANILA, Philippines (Xinhua) - Money invested by foreign portfolio managers in the Philippines posted net inflows totaling $895 million in July, the local central bank said Thursday.

This was a turnaround from the $23 million outflow recorded in June.  The central bank said the US Federal Reserve' s decision to maintain its quantitative easing (QE) program to sustain economic recovery encouraged investments in emerging economies.  

Outflows in July dropped to $1.6 billion from $2.9 billion in June. Most of net inflows in July went to peso- denominated government securities.

Registered investments for the month amounted to $2.5 billion, more than 60 percent of which went to securities listed on the Philippine bourse. This is 17 percent higher than last year's level thanks to renewed optimism brought by President Benigno Aquino III's State of the Nation address and the US Fed' s announcement on the QE.

Most of the portfolio investments came from the United States, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Luxembourg and China's Hong Kong.