$283.7M in ‘hot money’ fled PH in Jan
Flighty foreign funds continued to leave the Philippines in January, as the release of disappointing economic growth data at the time weighed on the minds of investors who were already anxious about the second Trump presidency.
Latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed the Philippines saw a net outflow of $283.69 million in foreign portfolio investments (FPIs) in the first month of 2025.
That was 41.8 percent smaller than the $487.37-million net outflow in December 2024.
But compared with a year ago, the net outflow in January was almost four times bigger.
Also known as “hot money” because of their tendency to leave at the first sign of trouble, FPIs are highly sensitive to developments at home and abroad unlike firmer commitments such as foreign direct investments, which tend to stay longer and can generate jobs for Filipinos.
Markets around the world mostly followed the developments ahead of the Jan. 20 inauguration of Donald Trump, whose tariff threats had sent bond yields up and triggered volatility across Asian stock markets, including the Philippines.
Anxiety
But the release of the underwhelming 2024 growth, which fell short of both market consensus and the official target, fueled investors’ anxiety, sending the bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index into bear territory on the last trading day of January.
And those market developments were captured by the central bank’s data.
Figures showed gross inflow of hot money amounted to $1.32 billion in January, 25 percent higher on a month-on-month basis.
Of that amount, $896.09 million was invested in peso-denominated government securities like Treasury bonds and Treasury bills, cornering 67.9 percent of total inbound FPIs.
The remaining $422.93 million or 32.1 percent went to companies listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange, particularly those engaged in the business of banking, transportation, services, real estate and food, among others.
However, data showed $1.6 billion in hot money left the country in January, up by 3.9 percent. The United States, considered a safe haven for investors, received 34.9 percent of the total outflows.
