MIF MAJOR MILESTONE FOR PBBM ADMIN
THE Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) will be the major milestone for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr administration.
This is according to Albay Rep. Joey Salceda stressing that MIF will be Marcos’ weapon for mass development.
Salceda, chairman of the House committee on ways and means, is the chairman of a technical working group that drafted the proposed law.
Marcos will be signed into law the MIF Bill on July 18, a few days before his 2nd State of the Nation Address (SONA).
The MIF and other important measures that will also be signed will be included in his report in the SONA.
Certified as urgent, the MIF is a sovereign wealth fund that will be used to invest in a wide range of assets, including foreign currencies, fixed-income instruments, domestic and foreign corporate bonds, commercial real estate and infrastructure projects.
According to Salceda, before the MIF, the Philippines was the only major ASEAN economy without a sovereign wealth fund or sovereign investment fund.
“We are also among the few major countries with the state banks being dominant players in the financial sector. The other one that’s close to us is Indonesia. So, we have a strong base of investable assets even as we have a massive investment gap,” Salceda said.
Also, Salceda pointed out that the country has a highly liquid financial sector and a cash-rich corporate sector with few options for investment in the domestic capital markets.
“You combine all of those facts and clearly, one path forward is to create a development-oriented investment option,” he stressed.
