Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno shut down critics of the Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF) who say its creation is ill-timed amid a global weakening of the financial markets and high inflation.
“There is no such perfect timing for this,” Diokno said Friday (December 9), as he insisted that the sovereign wealth fund should have been started a long time ago.
No pressure now! Diokno: SSS, GSIS can invest in Maharlika Fund ‘later’
He then justified the economic team’s push for immediate passage of the bill.
“If you are an investor, when the market is bad that’s the time for you to invest… so that when it picks up, you get a high return,” Diokno added.
The proposed Maharlika Wealth Fund (MWF) will be seeded by money from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Development Bank of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines.
The Government Service Insurance System and Social Security System (SSS) have been removed as funding sources amid intense pushback from citizen groups and some of the country’s biggest business organizations.