DoF, BSP spearhead ASEAN finance talks

The Department of Finance (DoF) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will serve as co-leads of the upcoming ASEAN Finance and Central Bank Deputies’ Meeting — Working Group (AFCDM-WG) and related meetings in Panglao, Bohol, from 9 to 13 February.

The meetings will bring together finance ministries and central bank officials from the 11 ASEAN Member States to discuss financial services integration, regulatory cooperation, capital market development, financial inclusion, and initiatives aimed at strengthening the region’s economic resilience.

Senior officials’ platform

The AFCDM-WG serves as a key senior officials’ platform to coordinate finance and central bank initiatives, provide strategic guidance to finance sectoral bodies, and advance priority deliverables under the ASEAN Economic Community agenda.

The DoF and BSP currently serve as co-chairs of the ASEAN Finance Track’s AFCDM-WG.

For its part, the DoF will co-chair the 84th Meeting of the ASEAN Working Committee on Financial Services Liberalization, as well as the 2nd Meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Finance–Health Collaboration.

Meanwhile, the BSP will co-chair the ASEAN Working Committee on Capital Account Liberalization Meeting. The weeklong series of meetings will conclude with the DoF and BSP co-chairing the AFCDM-WG on Friday, 13 February.

Three initiatives to be prioritized

As co-chairs of the AFCDM-WG, the DoF and BSP will prioritize three initiatives under the Priority Economic Deliverables (PEDs) of the Philippines’ 2026 ASEAN chairship: sustainable and resilient ASEAN capital markets, financial health, and cross-border payments.

These PEDs aim to strengthen ASEAN capital markets, elevate financial health as a regional priority, and advance regional payments connectivity by promoting interoperable, transparent, and well-regulated cross-border payment systems aligned with the G20 Roadmap.

The ASEAN Finance Track will continue advancing financial services liberalization within ASEAN and with ASEAN Dialogue Partners. This includes ongoing implementation of commitments and Timor-Leste’s accession under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on Services, as well as preparatory work supporting the transition to the ASEAN Trade in Services Agreement, which will further strengthen the legal and institutional framework governing trade in services across the region.

Cashless transactions in barangays

Domestically, the DoF and BSP have pushed financial inclusion through the Paleng-QR Ph Plus digital payments rollout, which aims to make cashless transactions available in every barangay nationwide.