The Departments of Finance and of Budget and Management expressed their appreciation to Congress for supporting the administration’s Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF), which serves as the government’s blueprint to steer the economy back to its high-growth trajectory.
“We thank Congress for recognizing the importance of the MTFF in the attainment of our socioeconomic agenda. The adoption of this resolution will ensure the prioritization and alignment of key legislation that will help steer the economy back to its high-growth path,” Finance SecretaryBenjamin Diokno said in a statement yesterday.
“It is encouraging to see that Congress is united with the administration in our economic objectives for the nation. We commend Congress on the adoption by both the Senate and the House of Representatives of their respective resolutions backing the MTFF,” Budget Chief AmenahPangandaman said in a separate statement.
“The MTFF is the roadmap for our Agenda for Prosperity,” Pangandaman said, noting that it is the first time that a comprehensive fiscal strategy for the entire term of an administration had ever been implemented and adopted through resolution by Congress.
The Senate and Lower House sponsored their respective resolutions backing the 2022-2028 MTFF. House concurrent resolution 2 was adopted in August 2022 while Senate concurrent resolution 3 was adopted on September 12, 2022. The Senate version was later adopted by the Lower House as an amendment to its version.
The MTFF is a comprehensive plan that aims to sustain the country’s strong post-pandemic economic recovery and support accelerated growth. It also serves as a roadmap for developing the government’s annual National Expenditure Program (NEP). The proposed 2023 NEP is currently being deliberated in Congress.
Under the MTFF, the government is targeting faster economic growth at 6.5 to 7.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2022 and 6.5 to 8 percent of GDP annually from 2023 to 2028.
It envisions the Philippines as an upper-middle income economy with its poverty rate reduced to 9 percent by 2028.
MTFF strategies are aimed at reducing both the national government (NG) debt-to-GDP ratio to less than 60 percent by 2025, and the NG deficit-to-GDP ratio to 3 percent by 2028.
“The targets set in the MTFF will guide the legislative agenda of the government. The express support of Congress ensures the alignment of measures that will help the country sustain growth and achieve upper-middle income status,” Diokno said.
