Foreign investments registered with BSP through AABs yield net outflows in March

Transactions on foreign investments registered with the BSP, through AABs, in March 2023 recorded net outflows of US$70 million, resulting from gross outflows of US$1.33 billion and gross inflows of US$1.26 billion. This is smaller compared to the net outflows recorded in February 2023 (US$531 million) and in March 2022 (US$305 million). 

The US$1.26 billion registered investments for the month are higher by 84.7 percent (or by US$576 million) compared to the US$680 million recorded in February 2023. 

Majority of investments (or 64.6 percent) registered were in PSE-listed securities (investments mainly in banks, property, holding firms, food, beverage and tobacco and transportation services), while the remaining went to investments in Peso government securities (35.4 percent) and in other instruments (less than 1.0 percent). The top five (5) investor countries for the month were the United Kingdom, United States (US), Singapore, Luxembourg and Norway with combined share to total at 86.4 percent. 

The US$1.33 billion gross outflows for the month are larger by 9.5 percent (or by US$115 million) compared to those recorded in February 2023 (US$1.2 billion). The US received 67.2 percent of total outward remittances. 

Year-on-year, registered investments in March 2023 are lower than the US$1.28 billion recorded in March 2022 (by 1.7 percent or by US$22 million), while gross outflows are lower by 16.2 percent (or by US$257 million) vis-à-vis the gross outflows recorded for March 2022 (US$ 1.6 billion). The US$70 million net outflows in March 2023 is an improvement from the US$305 million net outflows recorded for the same period a year ago. 

Year-to-date transactions (01 January to 31 March 2023) for foreign investments registered with the BSP, through AABs, yielded net outflows of US$309 million which are larger compared to the US$16 million net outflows noted for the same period last year (01 January to 31 March 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.