OPINION:
Haste is waste. A money as big as this should be carefully handled.
A wealth fund should be created if there is an excess of funds. The first sovereign funds were created out of "extra" income.
Huge budget deficits, 14T DEBT, rising prices in commodities, high taxes - these are not good indicators!
And now the govt is going to divert a huge chunk of the nation's money into something that is probably risky in today's market conditions. Who will be the administrators of the fund? Will they invest in businesses allied with the administration? What will be their investing strategy?
The government should be run like a normal household - if you don't have enough money, then get a good job or add side jobs, cut debt, eliminate non-essential spending, save the extra money, invest. Don't borrow money on the premise that you will outgrow debt!
Old Mahathir had to unretire to end Najib's reign, with the latter prime minister being convicted of looting the Malaysian wealth fund. In the Philippines, who will challenge the looting, if ever it happens, when majority of politicians are aligned under the same alliance? The minority and opposition are virtually non-existent. Talk of political butterflies.
Plug the holes. Empower COA. Spend efficiently (good roads need not be drilled and destroyed). Stop vanity projects. Return stolen wealth. Pay estate taxes. Elect competent people to run the government.
rb28
