The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will remit about P62 billion in the next two years to the National Government (NG) to finance the requirements of the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), according to BSP Governor Eli M. Remolona. Remolona told CNN Philippines late Thursday, Aug. 3, that he has signed a memorandum order that day for the release of P31 billion worth of dividends to the NG to be used as MIF capital. He said the P31 billion is dividend payment for “this year” but did not clarify if this was advance cash for the period 2023 or additional remittance for 2022. Under the MIF law, the BSP is mandated to remit 100 percent of its dividends to the government to seed the MIF. For next year, Remolona said he expects to remit the same amount to the NG for the MIF, or a total P62 billion for the two years. The new BSP chief, who became the central bank’s seventh governor only on July 3, said they can afford to surrender part of their income to the NG even though under its revised BSP Charter, it is no longer required to remit dividends to the government starting in 2020. Remolona said the BSP’s financial standing at the moment, is in “very good shape.” “We don’t really need that money. We’re not worried at all. We’re able to do what we’re supposed to do even when we’re paying the dividends,” he said. After the first two years of 100 percent dividend payout to the NG, in the succeeding years, the BSP will remit 50 percent of its declared dividends to the MIF while the remaining 50 percent will go to the government until the increase in the BSP capitalization has been fully paid. For decades since the BSP was established in 1993 from the ashes of the bankrupted Central Bank of the Philippines, the BSP only had P10 billion in capitalization, short of the P50 billion promised under the law. The entire P50 billion was given to the BSP in full 20 years later, in 2013. In 2019, the amended BSP Charter raised its capitalization from P50 billion to P200 billion which it can raise by not remitting dividends to the NG and keeping the money to build up its capital. At the moment the BSP has a P60-billion capital. Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the BSP continued to remit to the NG in 2020, 2021 and 2022 to help in the anti-pandemic response. In 2022, the BSP’s net income amounted to P62.91 billion, up from 2021’s P34.71 billion. However for the first three months of 2023, the central bank posted a net loss of P1.4 billion, reversing the P23.56 billion net gain in the same period last year. Meanwhile, the BSP’s total assets as of end-March decreased by 6.1 percent to P7.36 trillion from P7.84 trillion in 2022. Bulk of these assets are BSP’s international reserves. Total liabilities also fell 6.7 percent to P7.22 trillion from P7.74 trillion. Liabilities are deposits such as the term deposit facility and the overnight deposit facility, and currency issues. The BSP’s net worth was at P143.75 billion in the first quarter from P98.51 billion. The net worth was higher because of surplus reserves of P83.75 billion.