THE DEPARTMENT of Finance said the Maharlika Investment Fund, the first-ever sovereign investment fund which President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. has recently signed into law, is another source for the Build Better More Program.
DOF Secretary Benjamin Diokno said among the 194 infrastructure projects, each of the projects will yield at least a ten percent Internal Rate of Return (IRR).
“I can assure that it is worthwhile investing in, it’s gonna costs us approximately 8.3-trillion pesos, and a part of that can be funded through official development assistance, loans from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), through tax resources, and could be done also through private-public partnerships (PPP),” he said.
Within the last nine months, Diokno said they have already approved PPP projects worth more than P200 billion, the primary reason that it still needs funds to undergo the projects.
“We need more money, and that’s where the Maharlika Investment Fund comes in. This will be another source of funding for these 194 projects,” Diokno said.
For the fund’s status, Diokno said they must issue implementing rules and regulations within 90 days of the bill’s approval.
“We’re not gonna use the ninety days. We plan to release the IRR mid-August, or at the latest end of August. And then we will recruit the right men to run the Maharlika Investment Fund,” Diokno added.
Last July 18, 2023, President Marcos Jr. signed Senate Bill No. 2020 and House Bill No. 6608 in Malacañang Palace’s Rizal Hall, creating the Maharlika Investment Fund.
