The country’s economic managers assured senators that the proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) will not be big enough to bring down the Philippine economy even if it fails, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said in a media briefing Tuesday.
Zubiri and 14 other senators were briefed on Monday by Secretaries Benjamin Diokno of Finance and Amenah Pangandaman of Budget, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla and National Economic and Development Authority chief Arsenio Balisacan on the proposed MIF and how it would help accelerate the country’s economic growth.
“He said our economy is a P19 trillion economy. So, a P100 billion to P150 billion economic fund will not make a big enough dent to put us in recession,” Zubiri said.
Diokno made the assurance after Senator Robinhood Padilla asked if the economy would collapse if the MIF fails.
Zubiri said a worst-case scenario would be a global economic crisis that may put the MIF at risk.
“They still guaranteed that the way it is going now, the trajectory of our economy will continue to improve in 2023 despite headwinds in the international, external forces,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
The Senate committee on banks, financial institutions and currencies chaired by Senator Mark Villar, will start the discussions on the MIF on Wednesday.
“Senator Mark Villar needs a good strategy in explaining this not only at the committee level but also in the plenary to be able to get 13 votes,” Zubiri said.
The House of Representatives passed the bill to establish the MIF late last year, but the Senate has yet to begin debates on it. Zubiri suggested that Villar allow the economic managers to explain the MIF first and follow it up with consultations with the different sectors concerned.
Zubiri said he was convinced more about the benefits of the MIF after the briefing with the economic managers.
“What they told us was ‘it is up to you Mr. Senator… because you will be doing the final version of the bill. So, if it needs to have more safeguards, put some in,” he said.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has asked Congress to thoroughly review the proposed MIF, saying that getting it wrong would be “a very bad mistake.”
“(Review it carefully. Of course, it is better to finish it as soon as possible, but it should not be rushed because it is very important,” Marcos said in a recent interview.
The MIF will come from the investible funds of select government financial institutions (GFIs) contributions of the national government, declared dividends of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and other funding sources.
The proposed MIF will be used to invest on a strategic and commercial basis in a manner designed to promote fiscal stability for economic development and strengthen the top-performing GFIs through additional investment platforms that will help attain the national government’s priority plans, the bill states.
Certified by Marcos as urgent, the bill was approved by the House of Representatives on Dec. 15, 2022 and was transmitted to the Senate four days later.
Earlier, Villar said he was upbeat about the briefing, saying it would answer questions that have been asked about the fund, including how it would be funded, and how it would be controlled and managed.
The senators also want to guarantee transparency over several suggestions to sell the government’s non-performing assets to fund the MIF.
Earlier, Senators Grace Poe and Juan Edgardo Angara aired their support for the recommendation to sell some government properties.
Poe wants the government to sell casinos which have been embroiled in corruption and other problems. However, she insisted on transparency in the sale and credibility of buyers.
