Banking & finance Maharlika Fund bill contribution unlikely to affect BSP's stability

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP) contribution to the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) will not threaten its financial stability, Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno has said.

"The contributions being asked from BSP for the first two years of the MIF, for a maximum of P50 billion, are dividends declared in favor of the national government. That’s the net profit of BSP and the NG (National Government) decides how to use it," Diokno told reporters in a Viber message on Friday.

"I estimate that BSP’s dividend for the NG in 2022 would be in the neighborhood of P30 billion," he added.

Diokno, former BSP governor during the Duterte administration, said the BSP's financial condition is much better now than when its revised charter was being deliberated upon.

The BSP was also granted additional tools to conduct its primary mandates, he added.

"At the height of the pandemic, when I was BSP Governor, BSP extended a loan of P540 billion -- repeat, P540 billion -- interest-free to the national government. To help the country during its economic distress. That’s how good BSP’s finances are,"