Contrary to the recent criticisms and/or reservations on the timeliness of House Bill 6398 or the establishment of the Maharlika Wealth Fund, I think its creation is an idea whose time has come.

If properly established, the MWF has the potential to be a solid catalyst for the achievement of the economic development and poverty reduction goals of the Marcos administration.

House Bill 6398 or now known as the "Maharlika Wealth Fund Act" was recently filed in Congress by Speaker Martin Romualdez and Reps. Sandro Marcos, Yedda Romualdez, Mannix Dalipe, Stella Quimbo and Jude Acidre. Patterned after sovereign wealth funds from other Southeast Asian countries, the MWF is a sovereign wealth fund drawing inspiration from the positive experiences of Singapore's GIC Private Limited and the Indonesia Investment Authority.

The MWF will be capitalized initially from various state-owned enterprises and from the government budget itself: GSIS — P125 billion; SSS — P50 billion; LBP — P50 billion; DBP — P25 billion; and Bureau of Treasury — P25 billion, for a total of P275 billion.

According to House Bill 6398, subsequent annual contributions to the fund are as follows: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas — foreign currency equivalent of 10 percent of the remittances from Overseas Filipino Workers; Business Processing Outsourcing sector — 10 percent; Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation — 10 percent from its gaming proceeds; General Appropriations Act or supplemental Appropriations; and other sources (e.g., special assessments on natural resources, public borrowings, and the like).

It is interesting to note that critics of the MWF Bill are not so much opposed to the establishment of the MWF itself but merely question its timing given the present economic conditions. I recently watched an interview of Senator Imee Marcos stating her reluctance about the suitability of the measure citing projections that the country's economy will slow down in 2023.

However, foreign financial institutions remain upbeat about the growth prospects of the country. The latest Asian Development Bank outlook for the Philippine GDP Growth Rate in 2023 is currently pegged at 6.3 percent. Although lower than the 6.5 percent projected for 2022, the country's rate is still substantially higher than the Southeast Asian GDP growth rate of 5 percent. In fact, for the coming year, the Philippines will register the second-highest GDP growth among the Southeast Asian economies, next only to Vietnam with a 6.7 percent projected GDP growth rate for 2023. (Source: adb.org).