ROTARY CLUB OF MANILA JOURNALISM AWARDS
2006 National Newspaper of the Year 2011 National Newspaper of the Year 2013 Business Newspaper of the Year 2017 Business Newspaper of the Year 2019 Business Newspaper of the Year 2021 Pro Patria Award PHILIPPINE STATISTICS AUTHORITY 2018 Data Champion
BusinessMirror
EJAP JOURNALISM AWARDS
BUSINESS NEWS SOURCE OF THE YEAR
(2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021) DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
2018 BANTOG MEDIA AWARDS
GLOBAL RISKS CUT PHL w
n
Tuesday, December 6, 2022 Vol. 18 No. 55
P25.00 nationwide | 2 sections 22 pages |
GROWTH GOAL FOR 2023 By Jasper Emmanuel Y. Arcalas
T
‘Maharlika’ fund won’t end up like 1MDB—DOF
@jearcalas
HE Cabinetlevel Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) maintained its GDP growth target for this year at 6.5 to 7.5 percent.
T
HE proposed Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) will not suffer the same fate as the infamous 1MDB fund of Malaysia because it will have enough accounting and transparency safeguards, economic managers and lawmakers claimed. Finance Secretary Benjamin E. Diokno said the Philippines may miss a lot of opportunity cost if the MIF will not be enacted since there are a lot of projects that could provide higher yield for the national government. Some of the areas the MIF could invest in are infrastructure projects like tollways, which generates a steady flow of revenue, Diokno explained. The Finance chief said the MIF will allow the government to invest in full or partial in investment portfolios that it would deem be beneficial to the country. Diokno disclosed that he expects the legislative measure to be enacted into law as early as middle of next year.
However, the DBCC revised downward its GDP growth target for 2023 to 6 to 7 percent from 6.5 to 8 percent on the back of global headwinds. “ T h i s m o m e nt u m i s e x pected to slightly decelerate in 2023 and range from 6.0 to 7.0 percent,consider ing e x ter na l headwinds such as the slowdown in major advanced economies,” Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman said at the DBCC press conference on Monday.
External headwinds
THE external headwinds include the expected global economic slowdown as projected by the multilaterals that could impact the Philippines, National Economic and Development Authority Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon said. This also includes China’s dynamic zero Covid policy, Edillon added. “Nevertheless, growth is expected to pick up in 2024 to 2028 at 6.5 to 8.0 percent, as we push for government strategies and interventions of the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028,” Pangandaman said. “These include modernizing agriculture and agri-business, revitalizing the industry sector, and reinvigorating the services sector, among others,” she added. Government’s economic managers also revised upward their assumption for the country’s inflation rate this year to 5.8 percent, from their July estimate of 4.5 to 5.5 percent “given the persisting high prices of food and transport costs.” “Nonetheless, inflation is expected to moderate in the mediumterm reaching 2.5 to 4.5 percent in 2023 before returning to the target range of 2.0 to 4.0 percent in 2024 until 2028,” Pangandaman, who chairs the DBCC, said.
Safeguard mechanisms SOBER OUTLOOK Office buildings are reflected on a pool at the grand arch of the Philippine Stock Exchange Plaza on Ayala Avenue in Makati City in this photo taken Monday, December 5, 2022. The Cabinet-level Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) is keeping its GDP growth target for this year at 6.5 to 7.5 percent, but cut its goal for 2023 to 6 to 7 percent from 6.5 to 8 percent, on the back of global headwinds. NONIE REYES
DIOKNO emphasized that the MIF will have the necessary safeguard mechanisms, such as internal See “Maharlika,” A2
CREATION OF SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND BACKED By Cai U. Ordinario @caiordinario
C
REATING a sovereign wealth fund (SWF) even if the Philippines does not yet have an aging society would still be a good move, considering that it will ensure future generations could still enjoy the country’s current wealth in the years to come, according to the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda). At the sidelines of a press briefing on Monday, Neda Undersecretary for Planning and Policy Rosemarie G. Edillon told reporters that in the 98 other SWFs worldwide, some were created by young societies. Several sectoral groups and economists, however, have joined the chorus of opposition to the creation
See “Global risks,” A2
PESO EXCHANGE RATES n US 55.9830
of a Maharlika Investment Fund, as proposed in a House bill. Stories on page A14 and in Banking and Finance page, B3. Edillon explained that the origins of the SWF initially was to preserve the wealth of resource-rich nations, especially if these resources are renewable. It has already evolved and attracted even countries who are not resource-rich such as Singapore. “The origins of the SWF is really the resource-dependent countries and [the] problem where [the resources are not] renewable [such as countries that are] oil-rich, [those who have] minerals. [The intention is] just to make sure that the next generation will also have a share [of the wealth],” Edillon explained. Edillon assured the public that the Neda, one of the agencies comprising the technical working group
(TWG) on the SWF, will ensure safeguards are in place to protect the interest of Filipinos. “We’re glad that its being discussed, especially it’s being discussed in Congress. We are also part of the TWG. So in our discussion, there’s many of us agencies there, we will do our due diligence and make sure that the safeguards we think are important should be in the proposed legislation,” Edillon said.
Tolentino on BSP
AS for the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Monetary Board Member Bruce Tolentino said at the briefing that in general the BSP will support government efforts to widen its fiscal space. The SWF, however, will have an impact on BSP’s role in terms of the See “Creation,” A2
n JAPAN 0.4162 n UK 68.6072 n HK 7.1876 n CHINA 7.9409 n SINGAPORE 41.4167 n AUSTRALIA 37.9173 n EU 58.9445 n KOREA 0.0431 n SAUDI ARABIA 14.8951
Source: BSP (December 5, 2022)