FOREIGN portfolio investments or “hot money” in August 2017 posted a net outflow of $58 million, a reversal of the net inflow of $427 million a year, ago as investors were hesitant to pour their money in the domestic markets during the “ghost” month.
“This may be attributed to August being considered the ‘ghost’ month, as well as investor reaction to the rising geopolitical tension between the US and North Korea, mixed second-quarter corporate earnings, reinvigorated anti-drug campaign of the administration, and alleged anomalies at the Bureau of Customs,” Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said in a statement Thursday.
The August net outflow was also a turnaround from the $206-million net inflow a month ago. This brought hot money in the first eight months to a net outflow of $318.88 million, a sharp reversal of the $1.973 billion net inflow a year ago.
Gross inflows for the eight-month period reached $10.694 billion, down from $12.604 billion a year ago, while total outflows hit $11.012 billion, higher than the $10.630 billion on year.