DOF pushes ASEAN+3 financial resilience agenda

The Department of Finance is pushing for concrete measures to strengthen regional financial resilience and cooperation among ASEAN+3 economies as global tensions, including disruptions in key energy corridors, heighten risks to growth, public finances and livelihoods.

The department said the initiative is part of a broader effort to help member economies anticipate shocks, share insights and coordinate policy responses during a period of global uncertainty.

In a post published March 23, 2026, the DOF said close collaboration among ASEAN+3 economies has become more crucial as governments confront overlapping global and regional risks.

The department said that while each economy continues to manage its own domestic pressures, a united regional approach remains essential to building resilience and safeguarding stability against external shocks.

The ASEAN+3 Finance Process serves as the platform where member economies discuss financial and macroeconomic developments and address regional risks and challenges.

According to the ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office, the grouping brings together the 10 ASEAN member states plus China, Hong Kong, China, Japan and Korea, and has worked to deepen regional financial cooperation since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

In line with that agenda, the DOF said it pushed for the advancement of regional disaster risk financing in response to climate-related challenges.

Member economies expressed support for continued collaboration and for the creation of a roadmap to boost regional resilience and preparedness, which will be taken up further at the ASEAN+3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting, or AFCDM+3, in April 2026.

The department said that support was evident during the second Task Force Meeting held from March 3 to 4, 2026, in Osaka, Japan.

The meeting was co-chaired by the DOF and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, together with the Japan Ministry of Finance and the Bank of Japan.

International Finance Group Assistant Secretary Donalyn U. Minimo, who co-chaired the meeting, said recent disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting volatility in oil and liquefied natural gas prices have direct impacts on fiscal space, economic growth and livelihoods.

The DOF framed those pressures as among the external risks now shaping the region’s financial policy discussions.

Member economies also backed ongoing discussions on the DOF-championed Sovereign Asset and Fiscal Empowerment, or SAFE, Facility. The department said the facility embeds disaster insurance directly into development projects financed by bilateral and multilateral partners, an approach meant to reduce fiscal exposure and protect public infrastructure from climate and disaster shocks.

The DOF also continued to advance the Philippines- and Japan-led ASEAN+3 Fiscal Exchange, which it described as a platform for finance ministries to share best practices and insights.

The department said the exchange is intended to strengthen collective regional resilience by improving coordination on common fiscal challenges.

The push aligns with the Philippines’ wider role in the ASEAN+3 Finance Process in 2026. AMRO said the co-chairmanship rotates annually and that in 2026 it passes to the Philippines and Japan, giving Manila a larger role in steering discussions on regional financial cooperation, disaster risk financing and macroeconomic stability.