Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno (file photo)
MANILA – The Land Bank of the Philippines' Board approved on Friday the PHP50-billion investment in the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said.
"It is reasonable to expect that the Maharlika Investment Fund will be up and running before the end of 2023," Diokno said in his weekly press briefing.
On July 18, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. signed into law Republic Act No. 11954, otherwise known as the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) Act of 2023, establishing the Philippines’ first sovereign wealth fund aimed at boosting the country’s economic growth.
The Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC) will be created to serve as the investment body responsible for the overall governance and management of the Fund and is expected to be fully operational by end-2024.
It will identify financially and commercially viable infrastructure projects to invest in and will formulate investment strategies covering emerging megatrends such as environment, social and governance (ESG), digitalization, and healthcare.
The initial capitalization of the MIC will come from the investible funds of the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP), as well as the contributions of the national government, which includes dividend remittances of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the national government’s share of Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) and other government-owned gaming operators/regulators income, and privatization proceeds and transfer of assets, and other sources, such as royalties and special assessments.
Diokno said National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon is currently in consultation with Landbank and DBP and has started the preparation of the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of the Maharlika Investment Fund Act.
He said Section 54 of the Act allows the Treasurer 90 days from the effectivity of the Act to promulgate the IRR.
"We do not intend to use up the 90 days. We expect the promulgation of the IRR to be done before the end of August," he added.
Diokno said they are currently in the process of looking for people who will be part of the MIC, adding that appointees will likely be made by September.
The MIC will be governed by a Board of Directors with nine members chaired by the Secretary of Finance.
Other members include the chief executive officer (CEO) of the MIC, the president and CEO of the Landbank, the president and CEO of the DBP, two regular directors; and three independent directors from the private sector.
Within the MIC is an advisory body composed of the Secretary of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) that will assist the Board of Directors in the formulation of the general policies related to investment and risk management. (PNA)
