Nearly $98M in ‘hot money’ enters PH in Jan

Net foreign portfolio investments worth almost $98 million entered the country in the first month of 2021, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported on Friday, citing recent political events in the United States and Covid-19-related developments as among the reasons.

Central bank data showed that net inflows of these investments, or “hot money” — so called because of how easily these go in and out of the economy — reached $97.92 million in January, a turnaround of December’s $523.86-million net outflows.