PH ‘missed the boat’ for Maharlika fund — national treasurer

National Treasurer Rosalia de Leon INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines “missed the boat” for the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), national treasurer Rosalia de Leon said on Monday.

During the Senate committee on banks, financial institutions, and currencies hearing, Senator Nancy Binay asked why there is a “sense of urgency” for the MIF.

“If I may, we already missed the boat. We’ve already had other assets that we could have used to fund the Maharlika,” de Leon answered.

“Given also, what we’d like to do in terms of accelerating our development, the very huge infrastructure pipeline that we have, so all the more there’s the compelling reason to set up the Maharlika,” she added.

Meanwhile, Senator Risa Hontiveros asked if hiring foreign experts to manage the fund would be necessary.

Bankers Association of the Philippines president Antonio Moncupa Jr. said that fund managers in the country can handle the MIF.

“I think that returns and risks are closely correlated. You get higher returns if you take higher risks, and there’s no shortcut about it,” Moncupa said.

“I think that right now, Philippine fund managers are capable, as we’ve seen with DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) and Land Bank [of the Philippines]. I was looking at their performance, and I think through the years, they’ve shown the capacity to manage the funds by the way, if you look at the return equity that they have been registering,” he added.

Senator Mark Villar, the panel chairperson, concluded the deliberations on the MIF. A technical working group on the bill on March 1 will be held.

Villar is a proponent of the Senate’s version of the MIF.

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JPV/abc