‘Maharlika a development fund, can be listed in PSE’

MANILA, Philippines — Critics of the proposed sovereign wealth fund should not be confused as it is clearly a development fund that should be listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange, according to a lawmaker.

“The objective of the [Maharlika Investment Fund bill] is to promote socioeconomic development. There it is. It’s a development fund,” Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said over the weekend.

The bill, hastily approved last month following President Marcos’ certification of it as urgent, has been criticized in a position paper published by economics professors at the University of the Philippines.

“The MIF violates fundamental principles of economics and finance and poses serious risks to the economy and the public sector – notwithstanding its proponents’ good intentions,” the professors wrote.

“It’s mainly a development fund, and if it takes on the characteristics of an investment fund in some respects, it does so only because it necessarily has to be involved in the financial markets,” Salceda argued.

“Stating whether the MIF is a developmental fund or a financial investments fund is a false dichotomy. Of course, at the core, the MIF is developmental. The President has repeated this, and this is the main direction of the Fund. But it has to make money to be sustainable,” he said.

The position paper presented six points on MIF, which include its “confused goals” and how it “speaks of development only in the broadest possible terms.”

Salceda also suggested that Maharlika should be listed in the local stock exchange, where he advised multilateral banks to engage in the development fund as “strategic partners.”