Metro Manila, Philippines – The Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC) has yet to make a single investment since its creation last year, board chairman Finance Secretary Ralph Recto confirmed.

“Admittedly, it is taking time to identify investments that the Maharlika can make. As you know, it is like a startup. We just passed a law last year. So they have been in operation for about 6 to 7 months now,” Recto told a Senate budget briefing on Wednesday.

Recto said the MIC, under the leadership of President and Chief Executive Officer Rafael Consing, Jr., has established an office but is still hiring employees and seeking investment opportunities.

“The CEO is looking for opportunities but no, he has not come to the board for any particular investment,” Recto said, adding that he’s hoping the MIC can make its first investment within the year.

In September 2023, the MIC was given an initial P75 billion by the Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines. In his first few media appearances since his appointment as CEO of the company that manages the sovereign wealth fund, Consing had said the gameplan is to invest in large-scale projects including agri-industrial estates, energy, tourism and infrastructure. But almost a year since that investment framework was unveiled, Recto tells Senate lawmakers during Wednesday’s budget briefing that the funds remitted by state-run banks are still untouched in the vaults of the Bureau of the Treasury.

“The P75 billion is invested in the Treasury. It is earning interest and it is the interest that they are using for operations,” Recto said.

Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, requested updates on the status of the controversial Maharlika fund, which was swiftly legislated despite public uproar.

Recto said there is no subsidy being requested for the MIC in the proposed P6.532 trillion national budget for next year.