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MANILA - Foreign investments in shares of publicly-listed companies and in other Philippine financial instruments plunged 68.1 percent in May amid the euro zone crisis.
In a statement, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said the country enjoyed net inflows of foreign portfolio investments worth $106 million last month, but this was lower than the $333 million in April.
Portfolio flows are also called "hot money" because of their tendency to leave at the slightest bad news.
The BSP said $69 million was invested in shares of Philippine Stock Exchange-listed companies, while $87 million in peso government securities last month. Placements in money market instruments however registered net outflows of $49 million.
Gross investments in May were unchaged from April at $1.5 billion. Outflows however rose 23.9 percent to $1.4 billion amid growing concerns about the economic crises in Greece and Spain.
Most of the portfolio flows into the local stock market were placed in holding firms ($337 million); diversified industrials ($228 million); banks ($183 million); property companies ($138 million); and telecommunication firms ($109 million).
The top five investors in May came from the US, UK, Hong Kong, Luxembourg and Singapore.
The registration of foreign investments with the central bank is voluntary, but entitles the investors or their representatives to buy foreign currencies from authorized agent banks and/or their subsidiary/affiliate foreign exchange corporations for repatriation of funds and remittance of dividends, profits or earnings that accrue on the investment.
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