Finance Secretary Ralph Recto urged members of Congress to adhere to the refined Medium-Term Fiscal Program (MTFP) in the 2026 budget deliberations and ensure that next year’s General Appropriations Act (GAA) works as hard as the taxpayers.

“Let us operate within the parameters of the Medium-Term Fiscal Program that reduces our deficit and debt gradually, creates jobs, increases income and decreases poverty,” he said during the Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) briefing on Monday for the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations on the 2026 national budget.

The Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF), which was first crafted in 2022, was recalibrated by Recto in 2023 to keep goals “attainable, realistic, adaptive to external challenges and supportive of sustainable growth.”

It also takes into consideration the country’s recovery from the pandemic while navigating global uncertainties, such as wars in Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Gaza and Israel-Iran, and trade wars, among others.

The refined MTFF charts a realistic path to gradually reduce the country’s deficit and debt, while creating more jobs, raising incomes and lifting millions of Filipinos out of poverty, Recto said.

“And under this, we have ensured that every peso collected or borrowed will be stretched to deliver the biggest bang per buck for the Filipino people,” he said.

The government is on track to meet its fiscal targets, with revenue collections growing by double digits for the last three years at an average of 13.8 percent annually, Recto added.

Tax collections also expanded at an average of 11.5 percent annually.

From 2025 to 2028, tax revenues are projected to grow 10.2 percent annually, pushing total revenues to hit nearly PHP6 trillion by the end of the President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s term and will breach the PHP7 trillion mark by 2030.

Revenue collections will be bolstered by recently enacted reforms, such as the Value-Added Tax on Digital Services and the Capital Markets Efficiency Promotion Act, as well as the soon-to-be-enacted Rationalization of the Mining Fiscal Regime Act and the proposed General Tax Amnesty.

Manageable debt

Recto, meanwhile, said the administration has made improvements in its debt metrics.

As of end-June, the country’s total outstanding debt remains manageable at PHP17.27 trillion, majority of which are domestic, long-term and at fixed interest rates.

Recto said the country’s national debt is also relatively lower compared to major Asian economies.

“Every peso we borrow is invested in productive projects that deliver real benefits to Filipinos,” he said.

“We will make sure that the economy will continue to outgrow the country’s debt. This will ensure that we have the ability to pay for our obligations,” he added.

Recto noted that if the government strictly adheres to its refined fiscal program and maintains disciplined and efficient spending, the size of the Philippine economy is projected to reach PHP42.6 trillion by 2030, while keeping debt at PHP24.7 trillion, equivalent to 58 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. (PNA)