Foreign portfolio investments registered a net inflow of $15 million in July, a reversal of the $35-million net outflow in June, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Thursday.
The BSP said the reasons for the net inflow in July were the easing inflation rate and the stronger peso against the US dollar.
Total inflows in July reached $1.68 billion, up from $959 million a year ago, while gross outflows hit $1.665 billion, higher than $906 million last year.
About 76.5 percent of investments in July were in securities listed in Philippine Stock Exchange pertaining to banks, holding firms, property, retail firms, and food, beverage and tobacco firms.
The balance of 23.5 percent went to investments in peso government securities. The UK, Hong Kong, the US, Norway and Malaysia were the top five investor countries for the month.
This brought the portfolio investments since the start of the year to a net outflow of $671 million, a reversal of the $459-million net inflow a year ago.