Foreign capital surges 92% in Sept. — BSP

The country’s net inflows of foreign investments in September surged by 92.1 percent to $1.025 billion from $533.95 million in August, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported Thursday.

The net inflows of foreign investments grew as gross inflows of $2.53 billion surpassed gross outflows of $1.5 billion.

Gross inflows of foreign investments jumped by 84.7 percent or $1.16 billion, consisting mostly of subscriptions to government securities with a 57.5 percent share and a total value of $1.455 billion.

Meanwhile, foreigners’ equity investments in firms listed with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSEi) amounted to $1.076 billion and accounted for 42.5 percent of gross inflows of foreign investments.

Most investors placed funds in banking firms, holding firms, property developers, transportation providers, and food, beverage and tobacco manufacturers.

UK, Singapore, US top investors

Investments mostly came from the United Kingdom, Singapore, the United States, Luxembourg and Malaysia.

Meanwhile, the $1.5-billion gross outflows of foreign investments rose slower by 80 percent or $669.29 million.

The bulk of the outflows worth $769.93 million or 51 percent went to the US.

From January to September, the country posted net inflows of $3.023 billion, a reversal of the $387.24-million net outflows recorded in the same period last year.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. chief economist Michael Ricafort said the local stock market has grown to over 7,000 as demand for goods and services remained high amid generally easing inflation.

“The PSEi corrected higher after better local corporate earnings that could fundamentally support higher valuations,” he said.

Inflation dropped to 1.9 percent in September from 3.3 percent in August and after a brief spike to 4.4 percent in July.

BSP also shared that the Philippines’ received an investment-grade credit rating of “Baa2” with a “stable” outlook from Moody’s, following local economic growth of 6.3 percent in the second quarter from 5.7 percent in the previous quarter.

“Moody’s expects FDI inflows to continue rising in 2024-2025. These inflows will be driven by strong investor interest in the energy, manufacturing, and information and communications sectors,” BSP said.