Maharlika Investment Corp. (MIC), the corporate body that manages the country’s P125-billion sovereign wealth fund, posted an interest income of P1.5 billion ahead of its project investments.
MIC president and chief executive Rafael Consing said in a Senate hearing Tuesday the income came from P75 billion held by the fund, including P50 billion in Land Bank of the Philippines and P25 billion from the Development Bank of the Philippines. The rest of the fund is from the government.
Consing said the fund would start to invest in the fourth quarter of 2024.
“We have already generated about P144 million in retained earnings last year, when we started placing the money in November last year. Another P1.4 billion this year, hence total of P1.5 billion in interest income,” Consing said.
He said the MIC will likely make its first investment in the energy sector among the memoranda of agreements it signed.
MIC signed several agreements to explore possible investments in infrastructure, energy, and other sectors.
“We have about eight memorandums of agreement, currently undertaking due diligence in two very important investments. Both in the energy sector. Intuitively we expect perhaps that in the next 60 to 90 days, we should be able to deploy,” Consing said.
Consing said MIC also proposed a P336-million budget. MIC, which has eight board members and a vacant seat, is now based in Taguig City.
Aside from energy projects, MIC signed a memorandum of understanding with Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) to explore investments in Clark National Food Hub and other projects.
These projects are aligned with the government’s priority sectors of food and agriculture, tourism, and infrastructure development.
Consing earlier said among the possible investments of MIC are infrastructure; oil, gas, and power; agroforestry industrial urbanization; mineral processing; tourism; transportation; and aerospace and aviation.
MIC, established by Republic Act No. 11954, is the corporate vehicle that mobilizes and uses the fund for investments aimed at generating optimal returns.
