The Philippines is far from falling into a recession anytime soon, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) said.

In a statement on Friday, Oct. 28, Budget Secretary Amenah F. Pangandaman allayed recession fears, noting this scenario may not be imminent in the country.

“I think we're far from it. Your economic team is trying its best,” Pangandaman assured.

“We have our Medium-Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF), our socioeconomic agenda, and a national budget that is anchored on, and funds our eight-point socioeconomic agenda,” she added.

For fiscal year 2023, the DBM had proposed a P5.268 trillion national budget anchored on the Marcos administration’s Agenda for Prosperity.

The country’s economic team has come out with the MTFF, which serves as a blueprint to guide the crafting of the annual budget under the National Expenditure Program (NEP).

The first-ever MTFF calls for the attainment of short-term macro-fiscal stability while remaining supportive of the country's economic recovery.

It also aims to promote medium-term fiscal sustainability and enable robust economic growth.

Under the MTFF, the Marcos Jr. administration has crafted the 8-point Socioeconomic Agenda comprised of food security, improved transportation, affordable and clean energy, health care, social services, education, bureaucratic efficiency, and sound fiscal management.

The near-term objectives of the socioeconomic agenda target to address the immediate issues of inflation, socioeconomic scarring, and low income, among others.

The overall goal is to reinvigorate job creation and reduce poverty by steering the economy back to its high-growth trajectory in the near term and sustaining the high yet inclusive and resilient growth of 6.5 to eight percent up to 2028.

"We will try to really push and open the economy. So I think we are really far from it ," Pangandaman assured.

For 2022, the Marcos administration is targeting the country’s economy, as measured by its gross domestic product (GDP), to grow 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent.