Maharlika a milestone for Marcos admin – Salceda

MANILA, Philippines — The Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) is a “major milestone” for the Marcos administration as it places the Philippines in the economic map of the ASEAN Region, House committee on ways and means chair Joey Salceda said.

In a statement, Salceda explained that before MIF, the Philippines was the “only major ASEAN economy without a sovereign wealth fund or sovereign investment fund.”

But he noted the Philippines has “a strong base of investible assets even as we have a massive investment gap,” being one of the few major countries with state banks being dominant players in the financial sector.

“Finally, we have a highly liquid financial sector and a cash-rich corporate sector with few options for investment in the domestic capital markets,” he added.

If “those facts are combined,” he said one path forward is to create a development-oriented investment option.

“In that regard, it’s a massive milestone for the Marcos administration,” claimed Salceda.

The lawmaker tagged the MIF as President Marcos’ “weapon of mass development.”