Business World
THE GOVERNMENT is developing a more reliable statistical system -- in terms of being more updated and detailed -- in line with a region-wide move in Asia and the Pacific to adopt a comparable core set of statistics by 2020.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Romulo A. Virola, secretary-general of the National Statistical Coordination Board who attended a conference of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) in Bangkok last Dec. 15-17, said the Philippines has been particularly working on updating some "obsolete" statistical tools. The work includes updating to 2000 from 1985 the base year for the Philippines’ national accounts and improving the accuracy of statistics being generated. For instance, balance of payments variables will have to better track remittances and other cross-border financial transactions.
UN ESCAP’s Committee on Statistics held its second session in Bangkok late last week, focusing on "capacity-building for national statistical offices...to produce, disseminate and analyze data in accordance with internationally agreed standards and good practices."
"The core set will serve as a guideline for developing the capacity of national statistical systems and will also provide economic structural information to guide long-term development planning," UN ESCAP said.
The committee cited the need to modernize statistical systems to respond to changing information management needs.
The body first convened in February last year to identify major statistical issues that affect decision-making at the national and international levels. For its second session, the committee also discussed ways to generate timely, more accurate estimates on population and related issues like health care in order to provide better bases for planning. -- JJAC
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