## _cr04281 - Executive Summary ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [_cr04281 - Executive Summary](https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2004/_cr04281.pdf) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2004/_cr04281.pdf.md) - [Structured JSON version](/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2004/_cr04281.pdf.json) --- ### Scope and assessed agencies - Data module of the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) prepared by IMF mission that visited Manila during September 1–16, 2003. - Contains: - summary assessment of dissemination practices relative to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS); - summary assessment of data quality for national accounts, consumer price, producer price, balance of payments, government finance, and monetary statistics based on the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF); - recommendations for improvement (Section IV). - Assessed datasets compiled by: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP); Department of Finance (DOF) and Bureau of the Treasury (BTr); National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB); National Statistics Office (NSO). ### Overall assessment — main findings - Statistical system sustained by generally strong legal and institutional frameworks and solid methodological foundations. - Urgent need to improve accuracy and reliability, particularly for balance of payments and national accounts. - Dissemination practices are consistent with SDDS requirements; accessibility to data is commendable. - Key institutional/process shortfalls: - scope for improved inter-agency cooperation and source data development; - need to strengthen BSP legal powers to collect nonbank data; - managerial focus and staff time devoted to statistical production insufficient in some agencies; - more computer resources needed in most agencies. - Integrity and methodology: - Technical professionalism and ethical guidelines in place; - fiscal compilers have provided no advance notice of major methodological/source changes; - national accounts follow the System of National Accounts 1968 (1968 SNA), with work proceeding to produce new series based on the System of National Accounts 1993 (1993 SNA). - Serviceability and accessibility: - Agencies have an excellent track record of timely dissemination; - metadata and electronic access broadly adequate. ### SDDS and dissemination practices (key points) - Philippines subscribed to SDDS in August 1996 and posted metadata on DSBB in September 1996. - As of September 15, 2003, Philippines is in observance of the SDDS; met specifications for coverage, periodicity, timeliness, and advance release calendars since January 2001. - National Summary Data Page hyperlinked to DSBB since April 2001; Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity hyperlinked since January 2001. - Institutions responsible for SDDS categories: BSP, DOF/BTr, NSCB, NSO, BLES; NSCB is SDDS national coordinator. - Advance release calendars disseminated on agency websites and quarter-ahead on DSBB; data released simultaneously to all users on NSCB’s national statistics data page. - Flexibility options used for wage data periodicity/timeliness (“as relevant”) and for timeliness of production and producer price indices. - Exact SDDS timing codes mapped in source (e.g., “Q”, “M”, “1M”, “6-8 W”, “1W”, “NLT 1 Q”). ### Prerequisites of quality (summary) - Legal/institutional: - Constitution recognizes right of access to official records (Section 7, Article III). - NSCB central coordinating role; NSCB approval required for surveys, selected methodological changes, and inter-agency task forces. - Agency-specific constraints: - NSO: low survey response rates by target date; very slow processing of survey data; legal mandate to require data within thirty days with penalties of six months imprisonment and/or fine of 600 pesos (about US$12). - BSP: need to strengthen legal power to collect data from stand-alone nonbanks; penalties for late reporting include unindexed fine of 1,200 pesos (about US$25) per day (viewed by mission as low); units preparing BOP and monetary statistics severely constrained, senior staff often devote less than half their time to statistical tasks. - DOF/BTr: legal framework requires compilation for policymaking but no specific public dissemination requirement; incomplete consolidated central/general government accounts; GFS generation not automated. - Quality-promotion: - NSCB rates agencies on progress, issues dissemination guidelines, coordinates rolling five-year statistical plans. ### Integrity and ethical standards - Technical considerations and professionalism guide statistical production; ethical codes and staff orientation in place (NSCB, NSO, BSP). - Pre-release access: - Pre-release access publicly identified only through DSBB. - Examples of specific pre-release recipients and timing: national accounts to Chairman NSCB and President one or two days before release; BOP to BSP Governor and Monetary Board two working days prior under strict restrictions; wage data to Department of Labor and Employment at least three days before release. - Fiscal statistics: compilers have not provided advance notice of major methodological/source changes. ### Methodological soundness — key dataset notes - National accounts: - Currently follow 1968 SNA; new series based on 1993 SNA planned (publication planned for 2004 in source). - Deviation: Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) residing abroad more than one year treated as residents (deviates from 1993 SNA/BPM5 one-year residency guideline effecting GNI). - Compilation relies on outdated benchmark year (1988) and fixed input-output ratios at 1985 prices for many industries. - CPI: - Concepts align with international guidelines; weights from household final consumption; owner-occupied housing and own-account production included. - PPI: - Concepts/classification consistent; coverage limited to manufacturing; weights from sales data (establishment survey); timeliness poor. - GFS: - Compiled largely following GFSM 1986 but no comprehensive consolidated central/general government statistics; recent NGAS introduced—does not fully conform to international guidelines; movement toward accrual accounting under way. - BOP: - Broadly follows BPM5; deviations include treatment of OFWs as residents and recording transactions largely on cash basis rather than accruals. - Monetary statistics: - Analytical framework follows IMF’s draft Guide to Money and Banking Statistics (December 1984); plans to move to MFSM. - Coverage excludes all financial institutions that accept deposits or issue deposit substitutes; deposits at excluded institutions equivalent to about 10 percent of bank deposits as of end-December 2002 (source figure preserved). - Sectorization not fully compliant; securities not valued at market prices; accrued interest generally not reflected in underlying instruments. ### Accuracy and reliability — principal weaknesses - National accounts: - Quarterly survey data insufficient; annual establishment surveys delayed and not used; reliance on outdated benchmarks and single-deflation techniques; NSCB conducts regular revision studies but benchmark/base-year update policy weak. - BOP: - Source data gaps and undercoverage: incomplete customs recording, remittances outside banking system, transactions via FCDUs, limited enterprise survey coverage; validation and routine revision studies need strengthening. - Monetary: - Source data generally adequate for banks, but long delay in transmission of BSP balance sheet to compilers (unaudited BSP balance sheet provided with a lag of four weeks); preliminary accounts disseminated based on operational data to meet SDDS timeliness. - GFS: - No procedures to ensure use of most accurate and reliable source data; substantial source data on public sector stocks and flows available but not sufficiently used; no documented procedures to ensure COA audit findings fully taken into account. ### Serviceability, relevance, consistency, accessibility - Serviceability: - Agencies disseminate macroeconomic statistics with good timeliness; national accounts dissemination exceeds SDDS timeliness. - Intra- and intersectoral consistency improvements needed; several large breaks in series (notably BOP and trade in electronic goods). - Accessibility and metadata: - Dissemination of data and explanatory notes broadly adequate; electronic access excellent; assistance to users is good. - Users surveyed requested more detail (fiscal operations, financial derivatives, composition of monetary aggregates), greater periodicity/timeliness for selected data, and more information on revisions. - Revision policy: - NSCB: PSNA follows established revision cycle (NSCB resolution No. 8–97); revisions identified and explained; routine revision studies and “History of Revisions” maintained. - Other datasets (PPI, monetary, fiscal) lack routine publicized revision studies. ### Source data and compilation issues (selected specifics) - GFS: - Substantial source data on public sector stocks/flows available but not fully used; some source data not consistent with GFSM 1986 or GFSM 2001; no documented procedures to assure audit findings are incorporated (para. 32). - NGAS adoption and subsidiary ledgers proposed to permit accurate consolidation. - BOP: - ITRS covers banking system but FCDU secrecy and accounts abroad create classification/coverage problems; CBTS and enterprise surveys initiated to close gaps (pilot and extension plans described). - Large upward adjustments to imports of electronic goods in 2000–02 based on firm sample; further work ongoing to reconcile customs and BOC automated systems. - Monetary: - Accounting data lack adequate sectorization beyond commercial and thrift banks; supporting schedules for rural banks and nonbank quasi-banks often not provided. - Depository Corporations Survey (DCS) covering all deposit-taking institutions published starting 31 March 2004 (initial data covered Dec 2001, Dec 2002, Dec 2003, Jan 2004 and February 2004) with objective to publish five-year monthly series by end-2005 (source action preserved). - Unaudited BSP balance sheet lag constrains timeliness; preliminary analytical accounts used to meet SDDS. ### IMF staff recommendations (summary, prioritized) - General — High priority: - Strengthen coordination to resolve multi-agency compilation problems early. - Intensify efforts to improve intersectoral data consistency and reconciliation. (para. 45) - General — Other: - Ensure adequate computer resources, staff, and training for compiling agencies. - Initiate regular consultations with users; give public notice ahead of major methodological changes; disseminate revision policies and publish revision studies. - Publish pre-release access information on relevant agency websites (now on DSBB). - National Accounts — High priority: - Adhere to timetable for disseminating new annual series based on 1993 SNA; develop consistent quarterly estimates. - Streamline establishment surveys and ensure representative quarterly survey samples. - CPI and PPI — High priority: - Improve timeliness of PPI surveys; consider separating PPI production from short-term indicators program. - Government Finance Statistics — High priority: - Grant one DOF entity authority to coordinate data collection and to compile/disseminate comprehensive consolidated stock and flow data on central and general governments. - Disseminate timely quarterly consolidated stock and flow data on central government (including extrabudgetary funds) and annual data on general government. - Balance of Payments — High priority: - Implement organizational changes to allow staff to concentrate on statistical production and increase computer resources. - Improve customs trade coverage and develop estimates of OFW remittances outside banks. - Extend enterprise survey coverage for transactions settled through accounts abroad; improve recording of direct investment (services, income, flows, stocks). - Remove current estimates of trade credit and develop survey-based estimates. - Monetary Statistics — High priority: - Implement organizational changes to ensure staff concentrate on statistical production and increase computer resources. - Expand coverage to include all financial institutions accepting deposits or issuing deposit substitutes; establish uniform conversion of foreign currency accounts; incorporate market valuation of bank securities. - Monetary Statistics — Other: - Provide compilers with unaudited BSP balance sheet within 10 calendar days after end of reference month (recommendation; BSP notes feasibility constraints). - Exclude deposits of banks in liquidation from monetary aggregates (implemented in March 2004 with DCS). - Incorporate accrued interest in underlying financial instruments; collect data on financial derivatives; disseminate additional detailed surveys and components. ### Authorities’ response and implementation status (overview and dataset-specific actions) - Response prepared by BSP (BOP, monetary), NSCB (national accounts), NSO (PPI, CPI), DOF/BTr/COA (GFS). Clarifications, differences of view, and improvement plans provided; some remedial action already in train as of assessments dated through 2004. - BSP (BOP and monetary): - Monetary Board approved shift from monthly to quarterly BOP compilation/release beginning with December 2003 BOP report; quarterly report contains monthly disaggregation; change in NIR (BOP position) still released monthly. - Creation of a Department of Economic Statistics (DES) considered/approved in principle; Monetary Board approved in principle bankwide reorganization including DES in June 2004. - Interim dedicated group formed within Balance of Payments and International Research Group (BOPIRG) to focus on BOP compilation and improvements. - IAC on Trade Statistics approved; implementation of automated export documentation system (AEDS) and other measures to improve customs data. - Small Technical Working Group on OFW estimation established; Inter-agency Committee on Labor, Income, and Population Statistics approved adoption of the "one-year rule" for residency of OFWs to be elevated to NSCB Board. - DCS covering all deposit-taking institutions published starting 31 March 2004 (initial periods Dec 2001–Feb 2004); objective to publish five-year monthly series by end-2005. - SL (Subsidiary Ledger) reporting system implemented for commercial banks (effective Jan. 2004) and extended to thrift banks/rural banks. - Revised derivatives reporting and a derivatives database planned. - NSCB / National accounts: - Planned release of 1993 SNA-based series (work in progress); computerized compilation system refined for quarterly PSNA; consideration of earlier release in 2005. - Technical Working Groups formed for OFW and trade statistics coordination. - NSCB conducts regular revision studies and maintains a “History of Revisions.” - NSO (CPI/PPI/MISSI): - Plans to publish CPI with 2000 weights (new index) and update PPI weights using 2000 Census of Philippine Business and Industry; investigations into imputation and quality adjustment methods. - NSO to update technical notes and make revision policies more explicit on website; streamlining and electronic survey initiatives underway. - DOF / BTr / COA (GFS): - DOF/BTr to issue DOF order to document timely submission procedures; BTr piloting automation for NGAS; plans to reconcile and harmonize fiscal reporting with NSCB, BSP, and COA. - COA working on standard accounts and NGAS modifications; IFMS and e-NGAS implementation envisaged to improve consolidation and sectoral detail. ### User survey highlights (Sixty responses — selected metrics) - Regular users reporting use of official statistics: - National Accounts: 95% - Prices (CPI/PPI): 92% - Monetary and financial statistics: 88% - Government Finance Statistics: 78% - Balance of Payments: 70% - Sources most used: - BSP: 88% - NSO: 83% - NSCB: 80% - DOF: 55% - Perceived accessibility: - Can easily access official statistics — National accounts: 75%; CPI/PPI: 80%; Monetary: 70%; BOP: 63%; GFS: 62%. - User satisfaction with timeliness: - National accounts timely: 52% yes; CPI/PPI timely: 67% yes; BOP timely: 33% yes; GFS timely: 45% yes; Monetary timely: 50% yes. - Awareness of advance release calendars low (examples): National accounts calendar known by 38%; BOP calendar known by 15%; CPI/PPI calendar known by 37%. ### DQAF summary (symbolic table highlights) - Prerequisites (0.1–0.3): Mostly O and LO across datasets (see paras. 16–19). - Integrity (1.1–1.3): Largely O across datasets (para. 22), but some LNO findings for professional independence and pre-release access. - Methodological soundness (2.1–2.4): Mixed O, LO, LNO assessments (paras. 23, 25–28). - Accuracy and reliability (3.1–3.5): Many LNO and LO assessments across datasets (paras. 29–34). - Serviceability (4.1–4.4): Mixed O, LO, LNO (paras. 35–39). - Accessibility (5.1–5.3): Largely O with some LO/LNO entries (paras. 42–44). *Source: _cr04281 - Executive Summary and selected extracts from IMF ROSC data module; mission visit September 1–16, 2003; Response of the Authorities, August 10, 2004.* ### Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... ### _cr04281 - Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... ### Executive summary: scope and assessed agencies - This data module of the Report on the Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC) contains: - a summary assessment of dissemination practices relative to the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS); - a summary assessment of data quality for national accounts, consumer price, producer price, balance of payments, government finance, and monetary statistics, based on the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF) prepared by the Statistics Department (STA) of the IMF; - recommendations for improvement (see Section IV). - Assessed datasets are compiled by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Department of Finance (DOF) and its Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB), and the National Statistics Office (NSO). - The report was prepared by the IMF mission that visited Manila during September 1–16, 2003. ### Main findings (bulleted) - Overall assessment: - The statistical system of the Philippines is sustained by generally strong legal and institutional frameworks and solid methodological foundations. - Following recent progress, the authorities should persevere with efforts to improve accuracy and reliability, which is particularly urgent in the balance of payments. - The commendably high accessibility to data should be supported by continued production of macroeconomic statistics useful for economic analysis and policymaking. - SDDS: - Dissemination practices are consistent with SDDS requirements. - Prerequisites of quality: - While legal and institutional frameworks are generally strong, there is scope for some improvement. - More effective inter-agency cooperation and greater focus on developing good source data are necessary to enhance accuracy and reliability, particularly for national accounts and balance of payments. - With increased reliance on survey data, achieving high response rates through continued voluntary cooperation and a credible enforcement capacity is important. - The legal ability of the BSP to collect data needs to be strengthened. - In some agencies, there is a need to increase managerial focus and staff time devoted to statistical production. - More computer resources are needed in most agencies. - Integrity: - Technical considerations and professionalism guide statistical production, and staff are provided with appropriate ethical guidelines. - In fiscal statistics, compilers have provided no advance notice of major changes in methodology, source data, and statistical techniques. - Methodological soundness: - Methodological foundations of the macroeconomic accounts are generally sound, and further improvements are underway. - National accounts currently follow the System of National Accounts 1968 (1968 SNA); work is proceeding to produce new series based on the System of National Accounts 1993 (1993 SNA). - Statistics on consolidated operations of central and general governments are not available, but substantial progress has been achieved in establishing source data for public sector balance sheets and moving to accrual accounting. - Plans are in place to compile monetary data following the guidelines of the new Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual (MFSM), which would improve coverage, sectorization, and valuation of financial instruments. - Accuracy and reliability: - Generating better data for analysis and policymaking will require redressing shortcomings in data sources and statistical techniques. - The most serious deficiencies relate to the national accounts and the balance of payments. - For fiscal statistics, there are no procedures to ensure the use of the most accurate and reliable source data available. - Source data for monetary statistics are generally adequate, but there is a long delay in the transmission of the balance sheet of the BSP to compilers. - With the exception of the national accounts, revision studies are not conducted on a routine basis. - Serviceability: - Compiling agencies have an excellent track record of disseminating key macroeconomic statistics with good timeliness. - There is scope for improving intra- and intersectoral consistency. - Surveyed users expressed interest in greater periodicity and timeliness for selected data, and more detail on fiscal operations, financial derivatives, and the composition of monetary aggregates. - Accessibility: - Dissemination of data and explanatory notes on methodology and data sources (metadata) are broadly adequate for most datasets. - Agencies provide excellent access to data through electronic means, and assistance to users is good. ### Introduction: assessment basis and user inputs - Assessments are based on information provided by the authorities to the team that visited Manila during September 1–16, 2003, official data available to the public, and users’ views. - The ROSC data module includes: - a summary assessment of dissemination practices relative to the SDDS (Section II); - a summary assessment of the quality of key macroeconomic statistics based on the DQAF (Section III); detailed DQAF assessments are presented in a companion document; - recommendations for improving the quality of macroeconomic statistics (Section IV). - The IMF mission elicited views of users via a BSP-assisted survey and a meeting with selected users: - Users were largely satisfied with macroeconomic statistics and access to official data. - Users requested more detail (fiscal, external, and monetary), expanded fiscal coverage, additional fiscal performance indicators, sectoral classification of credit and monetary aggregates, detailed foreign exchange market data, and longer BOP series for data revised due to methodological change. - Only a relatively small number of users were aware of advance release calendars; a majority expressed dissatisfaction with available metadata for government finance statistics (GFS). - Most users pointed to a need for more information on data revisions. ### Assessment of data dissemination practices and the SDDS - SDDS overview: - The SDDS is a dissemination standard promoting disclosure of information for assessing data suitability. - For each of four dissemination dimensions (data, access, transparency, integrity), the SDDS prescribes two to four practices to be monitored. - The SDDS was established in 1996 to help countries disseminate comprehensive, timely, accessible, and reliable economic and financial statistics. - Current practices: - The Philippines subscribed to the SDDS in August 1996 and started posting metadata on the DSBB in September 1996. - As of September 15, 2003, the Philippines is in observance of the SDDS, having met specifications for coverage, periodicity, timeliness, and advance release calendars since January 2001. - The Data Template on International Reserves and Foreign Currency Liquidity has been disseminated and hyperlinked to the DSBB since January 2001. The National Summary Data Page has been hyperlinked to the DSBB since April 2001. - Institutions responsible for SDDS categories: BSP, DOF/BTr, NSCB, NSO, and BLES. The NSCB produces national accounts and is the SDDS national coordinator. - BSP responsibilities include banking system, interest rates, balance of payments, international reserves and foreign currency liquidity, international investment position, external debt, and exchange rates. - NSO produces statistics on production, employment, unemployment, prices, merchandise trade, and population. - BTr produces central government operations and debt; DOF disseminates general government operations. - Access and dissemination: - The Philippines provides data through publications and agency Internet websites. - Advance release calendars are disseminated on agency websites and supplemented by a quarter-ahead presentation on the DSBB. - Data are released simultaneously to all users on the NSCB’s national statistics data page (http://www.nscb.gov.ph/sdds/nsdp.asp). - Data coverage, periodicity, and timeliness (summary): - The Philippines meets SDDS specifications using flexibility options for wage data periodicity/timeliness (“as relevant”) and for timeliness of production and producer price indices. - Data on central government, national accounts, and consumer prices exceed SDDS prescriptions on timeliness. - BOP data exceed the prescription for periodicity. - (See Table 1 in source for detailed mapping of SDDS categories to Philippine periodicity and timeliness, including exact indicators such as “Q”, “M”, “1M”, “6-8 W”, “1W”, “NLT 1 Q”, and other SDDS timing codes.) ### Transparency and integrity (brief) - Transparency: - SDDS requires dissemination of documentation on methodology, data sources, and component detail. - Summary methodology descriptions for SDDS data categories are posted on the DSBB. - Agencies disseminate methodological information, component detail, and additional series to permit crosschecks and checks of reasonableness. - Integrity: - Technical considerations and professionalism guide statistical production; staff are provided with ethical guidelines. - For fiscal statistics, compilers have not provided advance notice of major changes in methodology, source data, and statistical techniques. ### Sections covered elsewhere in the report (listed) - Detailed assessments and findings are organized in the report under: - II. Assessment of Data Dissemination Practices and the SDDS (including subsections on Overview of the SDDS; Current Dissemination Practices; Data: coverage, periodicity, and timeliness; Access; Transparency; Integrity); - III. Summary Data Quality Assessment (including Prerequisites of Quality; Integrity; Methodological Soundness; Accuracy and Reliability; Serviceability; Accessibility); - IV. Fund Staff Recommendations (including General Recommendations; National Accounts; Consumer and Producer Price Indices; Government Finance Statistics; Balance of Payments; Monetary Statistics). - The mission composition: Messrs. J.R. Rosales (Head), Segismundo Fassler, Jaroslav Kučera, John Motala, David V. Pritchett (all STA), Kari Manninen (Expert), and Ms. Sonia Bright (Assistant). *Source: _cr04281 - Executive Summary (IMF ROSC data module, mission visit September 1–16, 2003).* ### 10. The SDDS requires disclosure of the terms and conditions that govern data collection, ### 10. The SDDS requires disclosure of the terms and conditions that govern data collection, compilation, and dissemination, including the provisions governing confidentiality ### Pre-release access and dissemination practices - Pre-release access is made known to the public only through the DSBB. - Specific pre-release disclosures and recipients: - National accounts: transmitted to the Chairman of the NSCB and the President of the Republic one or two days before release. - Employment data: transmitted for information to the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) two days ahead of release, and to the President following clearance by the NEDA. - Wage data: transmitted to senior officials at the Department of Labor and Employment at least three days before release. - Monthly price report: delivered to the Director General of the NEDA one day prior to release. - Producer price index: delivered to the Director General of the Department of Trade and Industry. - Data on central government operations: distributed to the BSP and the NEDA, and the commissioners of internal revenue and customs, one day prior to release. - Balance of Payments (BOP): made available to the BSP Governor and the Monetary Board under strict restrictions two working days prior to release. - Merchandise trade data: provided to the Director General of the NEDA and the Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry one day prior to release. - Data released by statistical agencies are not accompanied by ministerial commentary, except for data on general government operations, which are usually accompanied by commentary on reasons for deviations from targets and the outlook for the following year. - Laws, regulations, and decrees governing official statistics are posted on compiling agencies’ websites and are available upon request. ### Summary data quality assessment — Prerequisites of Quality - Legal and institutional framework: - The Constitution recognizes the right of access to official records (Section 7, Article III). - A substantial body of legislation underpins coordination in macroeconomic statistics, with the NSCB playing a central role under the chairmanship of the NEDA. - The NSCB is responsible for statistical coordination and policymaking; its Executive Board includes representatives from all ministries, other public sector compilers, local governments, and the private sector. - NSCB approval is required for all surveys to be circulated to respondents, selected new products and methodological changes, and formation of inter-agency task forces. - NSCB coordination and quality-promotion activities: - Promotes collaboration and quality awareness among compiling agencies, with mixed success. - Issued data dissemination guidelines and advance release calendars following subscription to the SDDS. - Rates agencies according to progress toward statistical improvement. - Coordinates system-wide statistical plans: a rolling five-year annual statistical plan and a medium-term statistical development plan. - NSO capacities and constraints: - Adequate legislation and quality awareness support statistical activity at the NSO. - Challenges: low survey response rate by target collection date, very slow processing of survey data. - Recent actions: streamlined a key annual survey questionnaire (with AusAID support); plans to move to electronic circulation of a monthly indicators survey. - Legal mandate: respondents must supply data within thirty days of receipt of a request; penalties for noncompliance are six months imprisonment and/or an unindexed fine of 600 pesos (about US$12). - Confidentiality: strict legal safeguards on data collected by the NSO. - Resource and process issues: reliance on manual processing of customs data despite electronic availability; under-recording of imports of electronic goods identified in the late 1990s remains slow to correct. - NSO produces over two-thirds of public sector statistics covered by this assessment. - NSO quality initiatives: Quarterly Customer Satisfaction Survey and periodic consultative meetings with users. - BSP legal and resource issues: - Legal framework and inter-agency consultations provide adequate support for compilation and dissemination of BOP and monetary statistics. - Need to strengthen legal power to collect data from nonbanks; supervisory legislation covers banks but not nonbanks. - Confidentiality: BSP charter contains provisions to safeguard individual data, but policy guiding the Monetary Board in granting access is not specified. - Penalties: unindexed fine of 1,200 pesos (about US$25) per day appears low relative to banks’ financial capacity. - Staffing constraints: units preparing BOP and monetary statistics are severely constrained; senior staff often dedicate less than half their time to statistical tasks. - Consequences: insufficient validation and analysis, reduced capacity to absorb technical assistance, relatively high turnover rate. - Improvements: progress in revising methodologies and improving data collection; created a data quality team to monitor adherence to international standards. - DOF and BTr fiscal statistics: - Legal framework requires compilation of fiscal data for policymaking but no specific requirement for public dissemination. - DOF and BTr disseminate national government fiscal data with good periodicity and timeliness. - Lack of complete and consistent consolidated central and general government accounts partly due to sporadic and informal DOF–BTr collaboration and insufficient provisions granting compilers timely access to source data and adequate role in classification. - Resource management: DOF and BTr have scope to improve resource management; GFS generation from accounting records is not automated. - Recent reforms: revisions to national chart of accounts and introduction of a New Government Accounting System; new norms do not fully conform to international statistical guidelines. ### Integrity - NSCB and NSO: - Legal framework and policy environment provide ample assurances of integrity. - Emphasis on technical independence, professionalism, ethical guidelines, and survey clearance (Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System). - NSCB has prepared studies assessing statistical system quality and sponsors the bi-annual National Convention on Statistics. - NSO publishes methodological information and advance release calendars; received the Philippine Quality Award in 1999. - BSP: - Maintains technical independence, high standards of professionalism, transparency, and ethical conduct. - Encourages staff professional development and bases selection of data sources on statistical considerations. - Disseminates metadata and terms and conditions of statistical production and gives advance notice of major methodological changes. - Employees subject to ethical and professional guidelines. - DOF and BTr: - Promote professionalism and ethical conduct, with safeguards ensuring technical autonomy in GFS compilation. - Insufficient emphasis on transparency: no advance notice of major changes in methodology, statistical techniques, or source data; breaks in series are often identified only at publication. ### Methodological Soundness - National accounts: - Follow concepts and definitions of the System of National Accounts 1968 (1968 SNA). - Significant progress toward 1993 SNA implementation with publication planned for 2004. - Since 1991, quarterly compilation system generates GDP estimates at current and at constant prices of 1985, by production and by expenditure, with an annual breakdown by factor income; also generates consolidated accounts of the nation, income and outlay accounts by sectors, and regional accounts. - Deviation: Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) residing abroad for more than one year are treated as residents, deviating from the 1993 SNA/BPM5 one-year residency rule, resulting in overestimation of Gross National Income. - CPI: - Concepts and definitions align with international guidelines. - Weights derived from data consistent with household final consumption in national accounts; include owner-occupied housing and own-account production. - Market price collection has good geographical coverage; national classifications derived per international guidelines. - PPI: - Concepts and classification consistent with international concepts; covers only manufacturing with weights from sales data collected in an establishment survey. - Need for more detailed transaction specifications in recording commodity prices. - GFS: - Compiled following most GFSM 1986 guidelines. - Major deviation: no comprehensive statistics on consolidated finances of central and general governments. - Other deviations: revenue includes privatization receipts; financing includes government purchases of securities issued by the National Power Corporation (should be treated as net lending). - Progress on source data for public sector balance sheets and movement toward accrual accounting; no migration path considered for GFSM 2001 implementation. - Balance of payments: - Broadly follows BPM5 concepts and definitions. - Deviation: treatment of OFWs residing abroad for more than one year as residents increases factor income credits and decreases current transfers. - Transactions recorded at market prices; conversions into U.S. dollars use exchange rates prevailing on the day of the transaction or by taking changes in two outstanding balances (sometimes adjusted for valuation changes). - Transactions generally recorded on a cash basis rather than accruals. - Monetary statistics: - Analytical framework follows IMF’s draft Guide to Money and Banking Statistics in International Financial Statistics (December 1984); BSP plans revisions in line with the new Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual (MFSM). - Definition of money is underestimated because coverage excludes all financial institutions that accept deposits or issue deposit substitutes; deposits at excluded institutions amounted to the equivalent of about 10 percent of bank deposits as of end-December 2002. - Sectorization not fully compliant with international guidelines (household sector and private nonfinancial corporations not separately identified). - Holdings of securities not valued at market prices; inconsistencies in conversion of foreign-currency accounts to national currency values. - With few exceptions, accrued interest is not reflected in the underlying financial instrument. ### Accuracy and Reliability - National accounts data sources and methods: - Quarterly survey data insufficient for national accounts compilation; gaps filled with administrative sources. - Annual establishment surveys are delayed and not used for national accounts; quarterly establishment surveys lack intermediate consumption and inventory breakdown by type. - Compilation relies on outdated benchmark year (1988) and fixed input-output ratios at 1985 prices. - Shortcomings in techniques for deriving estimates at constant prices: for most activities only value added at current prices is estimated and constant-price estimates are obtained by deflation; taxes on value added and imports are calculated by direct deflation. - NSCB conducts regular revision studies. - CPI accuracy: - Source data comprehensive and timely; follow international guidelines on definitions and valuation. - Statistical techniques generally good, though sampling methods have not been employed. - Lack of quality adjustments could undermine accuracy as the market basket evolves. - Basic validation emphasized, but further quality investigation and data revisions investigation are needed. - PPI accuracy: - Annual establishment survey data for PPI weights are comprehensive and provide reasonable industrial detail. - Statistical methods and validation are broadly in line with international guidelines. - Timeliness is poor, limiting timely index updates. - Number of price observations is fairly small; selection methods for establishments and products need improvement. - PPI lacks the accuracy of more independent index programs; room for improvement in aggregation, quality change treatment, resolving missing prices, and updating the commodity basket. *Source: _cr04281 - 10. The SDDS requires disclosure of the terms and conditions that govern data collection,* ### 32. Substantial source data (on public sector stocks and flows) are available, but not ### _cr04281 - 32. Substantial source data (on public sector stocks and flows) are available, but not ### Source data and compilation issues - Public sector stocks and flows: Substantial source data are available but not sufficiently used for compiling the GFS. While conforming to the 2003 chart of accounts, some of these data are not fully consistent with GFSM 1986 or GFSM 2001. No documented procedures assure that audit findings on national government data are fully taken into account and that only the most accurate and reliable data sources are used. (para. 32) - Balance of payments (BOP) source data incompleteness and undercoverage: Causes include incomplete recording of trade flows derived from customs declarations by the NSO; remittances from OFWs channeled outside the banking system; limited survey coverage of transactions settled outside the banking system; and difficulties classifying transactions channeled through foreign currency deposit units (FCDU). Assessment and validation need strengthening and revision studies should be conducted routinely. (para. 33) - Monetary statistics source shortcomings: - Accounting data lack adequate sectorization and classification except for commercial banks and thrift banks. - Data on financial derivatives are not available. - The unaudited BSP balance sheet is provided to compilers with a lag of four weeks. - To comply with SDDS requirements, preliminary analytical accounts of the central bank are disseminated based on operational data. In view of delays in data reporting by commercial banks, estimates are used to comply with timeliness requirements. - Statistical techniques are automated, including to prepare seasonally adjusted monetary data. - BSP verifies data reporting practices and has systems and procedures to ensure quality and information flow among BSP units. Accuracy and reliability are monitored through crosschecks, but no routine revision studies exist. (para. 34) ### Serviceability, relevance, and consistency - National accounts: - Users and experts are continuously consulted; mechanisms include a Steering Committee for implementing the 1993 SNA and feedback at quarterly press conferences. - National accounts are disseminated timely and are generally consistent over a reasonable period, but a major revision of electronic imports produced a break in the series starting with estimates for 2000. - There are inconsistencies with the BOP on inward remittances from OFWs and travel expenditure of residents. - A well established revision policy exists for routine revisions of quarterly estimates, but there is no policy for updating benchmark and base year estimates. Studies and analyses of revisions are made public. (para. 35) - CPI and PPI: - NSO participates in technical committees and policy meetings; a quarterly user survey assesses serviceability. - The timeliness of the PPI does not meet SDDS prescription, and there is a lack of long time series for the PPI. - Revision policies for both indices are not well communicated to the public. (para. 36) - Government finance statistics: - Monthly summary Cash Operations Report dissemination is timely and well received. - The annual Statistical Bulletin is released almost two years after the reference year and does not cover consolidated finances of the central and general government. - Discrepancies exist between public sector deficit data and reported financing data due to differing institutional coverage; differences in net bank credit according to Treasury and bank data; and poorly defined budgetary arrears. - Reconciliation across DOF, BTr, and the Office of the Commission on Audit is hampered by differences in coverage, concepts and definitions, and insufficient use of explanatory notes. - No revision studies are made public. (para. 37) - Balance of payments dissemination and issues: - Monthly dissemination is timely and periodicity (monthly) exceeds SDDS prescription; monthly press briefings provide feedback. - Several large breaks in series since the mid-1990s; discrepancies with some external sector items in national accounts; trade credit liabilities not consistent with external debt statistics. - Revision policy and practices are not formally communicated to the public, but revisions are explained through technical notes posted on the BSP website. (para. 38) - Monetary statistics serviceability: - Preliminary central bank aggregates are disseminated with good timeliness; revised data based on the unaudited BSP balance sheet are disseminated about five weeks after the reference month. - Preliminary depositary corporations' survey (monetary survey) data are first disseminated on the BSP website 30 days after the reference month; revised data about six weeks after the reference month. - Differences exist in claims of commercial banks on BSP vis-à-vis BSP’s liabilities to commercial banks in foreign currencies related to certificates of indebtedness originally sold to foreign banks and later bought by local banks. - Main breaks and discontinuities are explained in disseminated notes/footnotes. Inconsistencies exist between BOP statistics in U.S. dollars and monetary data shown in pesos due to currency conversion differences. - Sectorization of bank claims/deposits of the public sector is based on an outdated list of public sector entities; revised data are clearly identified but causes for revisions are not communicated to users. (para. 39) ### Accessibility and metadata - National accounts accessibility: - Access is very good; estimates, including a confidence interval for GDP, are made public simultaneously at a press conference and on the NSCB website. - A publication at dissemination time aids understanding; metadata available on the DSBB; a Manual on Sources and Methods is publicly available. - Assistance to users is good; contact persons with telephone numbers and addresses are on the NSCB website. (para. 40) - CPI and PPI accessibility: - Disseminated in a clear and predictable form; advance release calendars published; data made available simultaneously to all users. - Technical notes, contact information, publication lists, NSO library and NSCB information center provide assistance. Metadata and technical notes disseminated through DSBB and NSO website. (para. 41) - Government finance dissemination: - Monthly GFS on the national government are presented to allow major aggregates to be identified and facilitate budgetary analysis; annual level of detail is adequate though not fully consistent with international methodologies. - Significant scope to improve descriptions of data sources and compilation methods, particularly in the Statistical Bulletin. - Contact persons identified on the website but not in publications; no catalogues of publications on fiscal data are available. (para. 42) - BOP accessibility: - Accessible through a range of media and released simultaneously; Balance of Payments Developments provides monthly analysis with useful tables and charts. - Nonpublished nonconfidential data or longer series available on request. - Sign convention for recording financial account transactions (assets) and terminology for errors and omissions differ from BPM5 and may confuse users. - Monthly data released per pre-announced schedule; metadata available; assistance adequate. (para. 43) - Monetary statistics accessibility: - Disseminated per pre-announced schedule in hardcopy and electronic format with generally interpretable presentation. - The monthly Selected Philippine Economic Indicators covers BSP balance sheet, broad money, and credit; weekly press releases provide other key indicators. - Recommendation that BSP disseminate additional available data (components of central bank and other depository corporations surveys, sectoral components of money and credit aggregates) to facilitate analysis. - Unpublished nonconfidential data made available on request free of charge. BSP provides short descriptions in Selected Philippine Economic Indicators; Concept Handbook gives full framework information. A catalogue of publications is available in hard copy and on BSP website. (para. 44) ### IMF staff recommendations (summary) - General Recommendations — High priority: - Strengthen coordination to facilitate early resolution of compilation problems that involve several agencies. - Intensify efforts to improve intersectoral data consistency and reconciliation. (para. 45) - General Recommendations — Other: - Ensure agencies compiling macroeconomic statistics have adequate computer resources, staff, and training. - Initiate regular consultations with public and private sector users; inform the public ahead of major methodological changes; disseminate revision policies; prepare and publish revision studies. - Provide on relevant agency websites the pre-release access information currently posted in the DSBB. (para. 45) - National Accounts — High priority: - Adhere to planned timetable for disseminating a new annual series based on the 1993 SNA guidelines; begin development of consistent quarterly estimates. - Streamline establishment surveys, considering absorptive capacity and respondent processing burden. - Ensure comprehensiveness and representativeness of samples used in quarterly surveys of official activity. (para. National Accounts) - National Accounts — Other: - Derive from establishment surveys quarterly indicators of aggregate intermediate consumption by economic activity and a breakdown of inventories by type. - Change quarterly compilation system to produce all components of the production account. - Improve methodology for estimating value added and taxes at constant prices. (para. National Accounts) - CPI and PPI — High priority: - Improve timeliness of PPI surveys. - Consider separating PPI production from program to compile short-term indicators to facilitate expanded coverage and improved accuracy. (para. CPI/PPI) - CPI and PPI — Other: - Monitor consumer markets for CPI measurement problems and identify validation indicators. - Clarify and disseminate revision policy for CPI and PPI. - Improve PPI aggregation method and treatment of missing prices. - Prepare plan to incorporate quality change treatment in CPI and PPI calculations. (para. CPI/PPI) - Government Finance Statistics — High priority: - Grant one DOF entity authority to coordinate data collection per international guidelines and to compile and disseminate a comprehensive consolidated set of stock and flow data on central and general governments. - Disseminate timely quarterly consolidated stock and flow data on central government (including extrabudgetary funds) and annual data on general government. (para. GFS) - Government Finance Statistics — Other: - Adopt plan to migrate to the GFSM 2001. - Establish procedures to ensure use of only the most accurate and reliable data sources for general government stocks and flows. (para. GFS) - Balance of Payments — High priority: - Implement organizational changes to allow staff to concentrate on statistical production and increase computer resources. - Improve coverage of customs trade data and develop estimates of OFW remittances channeled outside banks. - Extend enterprise survey coverage to close gaps for transactions settled through accounts abroad. - Improve recording of direct investment—services, income, flows, and stocks. - Remove current estimates of trade credit and develop survey-based estimates. (para. BOP) - Balance of Payments — Other: - Consider amending bank secrecy legislation to permit data collection for statistical purposes while strengthening confidentiality safeguards; alternatively, conduct surveys to close gaps associated with FCDU secrecy rules. - Modify residency concept applied to OFWs with appropriate coverage and classification changes. - Develop alternative methodology to record freight and insurance and eliminate duplication in estimating passenger fares and other transportation services. - Compile interest on an accrual basis. - Develop a common dataset on exports and imports of goods and services for BOP and national accounts; ensure consistency across BOP, external debt, and international investment position statistics. - Incorporate estimates of financial derivatives. - Improve coverage of private sector debt, including intercompany debt and resident holdings of debt securities issued abroad by residents (e.g., pension funds). - Consider classifying foreign airlines as nonresident rather than resident for improved recording. (para. BOP) - Monetary Statistics — High priority: - Implement organizational changes to ensure staff concentrate on statistical production and increase computer resources. - Expand coverage to include all financial institutions accepting deposits or issuing deposit substitutes; establish uniform conversion of foreign currency accounts; incorporate market valuation of bank securities. (para. Monetary) - Monetary Statistics — Other: - Adopt a plan to implement SNA 1993 and MFSM methodology/terminology. - Establish routine updating of sectorization of bank assets and liabilities in line with government composition changes. - Provide compilers with the unaudited BSP balance sheet within 10 calendar days after the end of the reference month. - Exclude deposits of banks in liquidation from monetary aggregates. - Incorporate accrued interest in the underlying financial instrument. - Improve coverage of financial instruments by collecting data on financial derivatives. - Disseminate monthly detailed central bank survey, other depository corporation survey, more components of key monetary aggregates, and data on financial derivatives. (para. Monetary) ### Data Quality Assessment Framework summary (table highlights) - Key to symbols: NA = Not applicable; O = Practice Observed; LO = Practice Largely Observed; LNO = Practice Largely Not Observed; NO = Practice not observed. - Prerequisites (0.1–0.3): Mostly O and LO across datasets. See paragraphs 16–19. (Table) - Integrity (1.1–1.3): Largely O across datasets; see paragraph 22. (Table) - Methodological soundness (2.1–2.4): Mixed results with LO and O and some LNO; see paragraphs 23, 25–28. (Table) - Accuracy and reliability (3.1–3.5): Many LNO and LO assessments across datasets; see paragraphs 29–34. (Table) - Serviceability (4.1–4.4): Mixed O, LO, and LNO results; see paragraphs 35–39. (Table) - Accessibility (5.1–5.3): Largely O with some LO/LNO entries; see paragraphs 42–44. (Table) ### Authorities’ response (overview) - The Response of the Authorities was prepared by agencies responsible for macroeconomic datasets: Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BOP and monetary statistics), National Statistical Coordination Board (national accounts), National Statistics Office (PPI and CPI), and Department of Finance, Bureau of the Treasury and Commission on Audit (GFS). - Sections authored by each agency present clarifications, differences of view, and lists of plans for improvement. Some remedial action was already in train at the time of the assessment (September 2003) or has been initiated since then. - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has moved to set institutional conditions for statistical improvement, including steps to create a separate department of statistics and modify its charter to add a provision extending its legal power to collect data from nonbanks. (end of document excerpt) *International Monetary Fund, PHILIPPINES — Report on Observance of Standards and Codes (ROSC)—Response of the Authorities, August 10, 2004* ### 1. Balance of Payments (BOP) A. Comments on Detailed DQAF Assessment—BOP Section ### 1. Balance of Payments (BOP) A. Comments on Detailed DQAF Assessment—BOP Section ### Resources, organization, and periodicity - Staff, financial, and computing resources are commensurate with statistical programs. - Issue: "Staff, particularly senior officers, are frequently assigned to do non-compilation activities." - Management view: "Statistics and policy form a continuum. Therefore, senior staff members (at the statistics groups) should not be an enclave by themselves. As they assume higher responsibilities, they—like other senior staff—will have to take on other high-profile duties (including attending committee meetings, representing the BSP in various fora, drafting speeches, contributing materials for publication). In these tasks, they should be able to explain not only the numbers but also the policy that accrues from these numbers." - Measures to ensure efficient use of resources are implemented, but: "Because of work pressures, staff has not been able to implement recommendations of the BOP technical assistance mission on a timely basis." - Some implementation delays are beyond BSP control (e.g., trade statistics responsibility of the NSO); BSP and NSCB are considering a common methodology to improve trade balance estimates. - Consideration and decision on periodicity: "Consideration is being given to disseminating quarterly rather than monthly BOP." - Monetary Board decision: "The Monetary Board has approved the shift to quarterly compilation and release of the BOP beginning with the December 2003 BOP report. The quarterly report contains monthly disaggregation. Meanwhile, the change in NIR (BOP position) is still released every month." ### Scope, classification, and recording practices - Scope broadly consistent with international standards, with specific issues noted: - Treatment of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) as residents, and their remittances under income account rather than under current transfers. - Explanation: "The present treatment of OFW remittances under Income Account is due more to data constraints since it is impossible to determine the residency of the remitter, based on the length of stay of Filipinos abroad, from the bank reports. The BSP has already established alternative estimates (2002–Q1 2004) consistent with internationally-recommended definition. Incorporation into the BOP statistics will be done simultaneously with other recommendations of the peripatetic mission." - Classification/sectorization issues: - "Repairs and goods procured in ports classified as services and not as goods." - Response: "Beginning January 2004, the ITRS provided a separate item on this. The 'new set' of BOP statistics (based on the peripatetic mission’s recommendations), to be released simultaneous with all revisions, has already reclassified this account under goods." - Deviations from BPM5 in a few areas, largely due to data limitations (e.g., trade credit methodology and lack of data on trade between affiliates). - CBTS has generated data distinguishing affiliated and non-affiliated trade credits; trade credit transactions between affiliates are properly classified under direct investment in the IIP compilation. - "The 'new set' of statistics on trade credits are based on the CBTS and external debt statistics." - Reclassification of Offshore Banking Units (OBUs): - BSP has produced two Reserves data series: old series treating OBU as non-residents and a new series reclassifying OBUs as residents. - "BSP has released in March 2004 a revised series of GIR (as far back as end Dec 2002), taking into consideration the reclassification of OBUs as residents. Similarly, a revised series (1990–2002 annual, 2004 quarterly) of external debt had been released in March." - Recording basis: - "Recording is done on an accrual basis." - Exception: "Income data are reported on a cash basis" with the note: "Except for interest payment on zero-coupon bond which is recorded on an accrual basis starting 2003." ### Source data, coverage gaps, and specific data issues - Partner country data from the IMF’s Direction of Trade Statistics suggest exports and imports for 2000–2002 (and earlier years) may be considerably understated. - Recommendation: "For completeness, the statement should also include a remark on the possible impact of the understatement of trade statistics on current account surplus/deficit (i.e., whether current account surplus is overstated/understated)." - Data on financial flows of OBUs are not yet included in BOP; plan: "OBUs’ external transactions will be incorporated in the BOP in the release of the revised series." - Stock data on foreign assets and liabilities include some domestic claims and liabilities. - Adjustment: "For the BOP compilation, banking data on foreign assets and liabilities have already been adjusted to exclude foreign-currency denominated domestic claims and liabilities. Both BOP and Banking groups are now working together for the improvement of coverage and classification of banks’ external transactions." ### Plans / Status of Implementation of ROSC Recommendations — High Priority - Implement organizational changes to allow staff concentration on statistical production and increase computer resources: - Monetary Board approved shift from monthly to quarterly BOP publication in October 2003 to improve data quality and allow staff more time; "The first quarterly publication of BOP came out in December 2003 covering data up to 3rd quarter 2003. Subsequently, publication of BOP has been on a quarterly basis with monthly breakdowns." - Creation of a Department of Economic Statistics (DES) independent of the Department of Economic Research (DER) was considered and "approved in principle" during BSP Strategic Management Planning Conference in November 2003. - "In June 2004, the Monetary Board approved in principle a bankwide reorganization plan, including the creation of the DES. Details of the organizational set-up are being worked out." - Interim measure: "a dedicated group was formed within the Balance of Payments and International Research Group (BOPIRG) tasked to do solely the BOP compilation and initiate improvements in the system of compilation and in the quality of BOP statistics." - Improve coverage of customs trade data and develop estimates of OFW remittances channeled outside banks: - Creation of IAC on Trade Statistics approved by NSCB Board; IAC functions include reviewing trade statistics issues and improving quality. - Implementation of automated export documentation system (AEDS) training for electronics industry; plan to roll out to non-PEZA exporters/importers. - For OFW remittances: Small Technical Working Group on Estimation Methodology for OFW Stock and Flow under the IAC on Overseas Employment and Tourism Statistics reviewing NSO survey methodology to estimate remittances outside banks and unify estimation methods with National Accounts. - "The Inter-agency Committee on Labor, Income, and Population Statistics (IAC-LIPS) has approved the adoption of the 'one-year rule' in determining residency of OFWs. The recommendation will be elevated to the NSCB Board. The Task Force agreed that data on documented OFWs will be taken from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) while data on undocumented OFWs will be obtained from NSO’s survey." - ADB TA: "RoP has received a TA from ADB to conduct a study on OFW remittances... The ADB is finalizing the final report of the TA which is expected to come out in August 2004." - Plans to include OFW profile in the quarterly Labor Force Survey of the NSO to set benchmarks for remittance estimates. - Intensify efforts to extend enterprise survey coverage for transactions settled through accounts abroad: - Additional CBTS results (e.g., electronics and airline industries) are being incorporated into BOP accounts. - Administrative data from Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) on nonresident airlines are being incorporated in the revised BOP. - CBTS coverage being extended with IMF TA to cover major FDI enterprises and major service industry groups. - Frame for FDI survey: top corporations list from SEC secured; pilot survey consultative meeting held in February 2004. - Pilot FDI survey results: "34 of the 50 target top corporations have submitted their comprehensive responses to the pilot survey. These 34 corporations account for a significant share of total direct investment in the country." - Pilot carried out by BSP; full FDI survey and service-industry establishment survey planned in collaboration with NSO. - Improve recording of direct investment—services, income, flows, and stocks: - "The questionnaire that was developed for direct investment enterprises contains not only data on stock of investment, but also all other related data/transactions." - Remove current estimates of trade credit and develop survey-based estimates: - "Estimates of trade credits for the electronics industry based on the CBTS are available from 2001. Meanwhile, annual trade credits from 1990 to present, based on data from the SEC top 5000 corporations, were calculated. The revised estimates of trade credits will be included in the forthcoming overall revision of BOP." ### Plans / Status of Implementation — Other Recommendations - Consider amending bank secrecy legislation to permit data collection for statistical purposes with confidentiality safeguards: - "A proposal to amend the BSP charter to include a provision that would give BSP the authority to get BOP-related data from non-financial corporations will be pursued in the next Congress. In the meantime, the MB instructed the DER to link up with NSO, and use the latter’s authority in conducting survey to get additional information for BOP purposes." - Modify residency concept applied to OFWs, with appropriate coverage and classification changes: - "The issue has been brought to the attention of the IAC on Overseas Employment and Tourism Statistics. The 1-year criterion was approved by the group but still to be elevated to the NSCB Board for approval." - Develop alternative methodology for freight and insurance transactions and eliminate duplication in passenger fares and other transportation services: - Proposal to cover all domestic carriers in the CBTS; major airline company survey data already secured, but difficulty soliciting responses from other companies. - No new survey needed for foreign airlines as they submit quarterly reports to CAB; arrangements made for CAB to provide BSP with necessary information, while BSP works with CAB to correct data processing flaws. - BOP peripatetic mission recommended a survey on international transactions of freight forwarders and transport operators; frame and questionnaire are being drafted and will be discussed in the next proposed TA mission. - Compile interest on accrual basis: - "This is being studied by both DER and IOD, although computation of interest on zero coupon bonds on accrual basis is presently being done by DER." - Develop a common dataset on exports and imports of goods and services for BOP and national accounts: - "The IAC on Overseas Employment and Tourism Statistics are working on unified data sets and estimation methods." - BSP methodology and forthcoming inclusions: - "BSP’s proposed methodology on OFW income was approved by the BOP peripatetic mission. NSCB has yet to comment on the methodology." - "The ongoing coordination among concerned agencies has significantly addressed issues on imports. The issue on export valuation is currently being discussed in the IAC on Trade Statistics. BSP has sought the technical guidance of the IMF statistics department on the issue." - "The forthcoming revised 2002–2003 BOP statistics will incorporate estimates of financial derivatives." - Plans to improve coverage of private sector debt, including intercompany debt and resident holdings of debt securities issued abroad by residents (e.g., pension funds): "The BOP will be tapping the external debt database for information on the purchase by local pension/insurance sectors of resident debt issues abroad. This will start with the June 2004 BOP to come out in September 2004." - Treatment of foreign airlines: "Implementation of the revised treatment of foreign airlines as non-residents will be incorporated in the revised 2002–2003 BOP statistics." *cr04281 - 1. Balance of Payments (BOP) A. Comments on Detailed DQAF Assessment—BOP Section* ### 2. Monetary Statistics A. Comments on DQAF for the Monetary Statistics ### 2. Monetary Statistics A. Comments on DQAF for the Monetary Statistics ### Summary Data Quality Assessment — Prerequisites of Quality (par. 16) - Need to strengthen BSP’s legal power to collect data from non-banks: supervisory legislation empowers BSP to collect bank data, but there is no provision in its charter requiring stand-alone non-banks to respond to data requests. - BSP interim measures to improve non-bank data collection: - Agreements forged with other government agencies such as the PDIC, the SEC and the Insurance Commission to facilitate exchange of information on supervised entities. - BSP-SEC Coordinating Committee conducting a study on reporting requirements by BSP and SEC for non-banks to develop uniform periodic reports for non-banks serving both SEC and BSP purposes. - Clarification: BSP has supervisory authority over non-banks engaged in allied activities which are subsidiaries or affiliates of banks under Section 25 of R.A. No. 7653; IMF comment applies only to stand-alone non-banks without quasi-bank licenses. ### Summary Data Quality Assessment — Prerequisites of Quality (par. 16) — Penalties - Issue raised: unindexed fine of P1,200 (about U.S. $22) per day for late data delivery appears low relative to banks’ financial capacity. - BSP response and context: - The fine of P1,200 per day is not based on a bank’s financial capacity; amounts were set after careful study and depend on impact of delayed reports based on report category. - Accumulated fines may be burdensome on banks with liquidity problems. - Willful delay: erring banks and financial institutions are subject to administrative sanctions including monetary penalties as may be determined by the MB but in no case to exceed P30,000 a day for each violation, as provided under Sec. 37 of R.A. No. 7653. ### Methodological Soundness (par. 28) - Coverage of monetary statistics: - Issue: definition of money underestimated because coverage does not include all financial institutions that accept deposits or issue deposit substitutes. - BSP action: Starting 31 March 2004, the Depository Corporations Survey (DCS) covering all deposit-taking institutions published in the SDDS and BSP websites. Initial data covered Dec 2001, Dec 2002, Dec 2003, Jan 2004 and February 2004. Objective to publish a five-year monthly series by end 2005. - Valuation of securities: - Issue: holdings of securities are not valued at market prices. - BSP clarification: - Banks and NBQBs required to mark-to-market investments in all debt securities and marketable equity securities classified under “Trading Account Securities (TAS)”, “Available for Sale Securities (ASS)” and “Underwriting Accounts (UA)” under Circular No.161 dated March 30, 1998. - Circular Letter dated December 29, 2000 establishes market benchmarks/reference prices and computation method for mark-to-market of debt and marketable equity securities. - Investments in bonds and other debt instruments (IBODI) are valued at cost adjusted for discount or premium, less any needed provision for permanent impairment in value. ### Source data, Classification, and Reporting (sec. 3.1.2; par. 28) - Issue: Transactions with counterparties that cannot be reasonably allocated are recorded in “other assets” and “other liabilities”; supporting schedules of rural banks and nonbank financial institutions with quasi banking functions are not provided by the SRSO. - BSP action: Implementation of Subsidiary Ledger (SL) reporting system for commercial banks effective for January 2004 reports (submission fifteen (15) banking days after end of reference month). Each subsidiary ledger to undergo two-month parallel testing and go live on the third month. SL systems for thrift banks and rural banks to address reconciled supporting schedules and main reports. - Issue: Data reported by savings and loan associations lack needed detail for proper sectorization/classification. - BSP action: Relevant reporting changes incorporated in SL reporting system for thrift banks; staggered parallel testing by account started February 2004 reports and live implementation started with April 2004 reports. Proposed issuance exposed to Chamber of Thrift Banks for comments; consultation ongoing. ### Accuracy and Reliability (par. 34) - Issue: Except for commercial banks and thrift banks, accounting data lacks adequate sectorization and classification; data on financial derivatives are not available. - BSP action on derivatives: - Banks required to submit monthly report on “Outstanding Derivatives Contract” showing notional and mark-to-market values as of month-end. - A revised report format on derivative transactions consolidating data on contingent foreign exchange spot and derivative transactions required by BSP departments is under preparation/finalization. - A derivatives database within the SES shall be established for electronic checking of outstanding obligations and double-hedged underlying transactions. - Revised reports to be electronically transmitted by banks to BSP and consolidated in a derivatives database developed by Information and System Technology Department (ISTD). Each user department, in coordination with ISTD, will design its report template. ### Timeliness and Compilation (Executive Summary; sec. 3.1.3; sec. 4.2.1) - Issue: Long delay in transmission of BSP balance sheet to compilers. - BSP view: This observation may be inconsistent with detailed assessments stating “Source data are timely (sec. 3.1.3)” and “timeliness follows dissemination standards (sec. 4.2.1).” - BSP argument: If preliminary analytical accounts of the central bank based on operational data are acceptable, unaudited BSP balance sheet need not be submitted within 10 calendar days after end of reference month. - Constraint: Ten-day timeline not feasible because data on BSP’s externally managed funds are received from custodians only ten days after reference month, leaving no time for processing. ### Staff, Financial, and Computing Resources (Detailed Assessment using DQAF Sec. 0.2.1) - Issue: Staff, particularly senior officers, frequently assigned to non-compilation activities. - BSP rationale: - Management view that statistics staff should understand how their inputs support policy; senior statistical staff will assume other high-profile duties as they take higher responsibilities (committee meetings, representation, speeches, publications). - Senior staff should be able to explain numbers and the policy implications that accrue from them. ### Recommendations (III) and Implementation Status / Plans (IV) - High Priority - Implement organizational changes to ensure staff can concentrate on statistical production, and increase computer resources. - Action: Creation of a Department of Economic Statistics (DES) independent of the Department of Economic Research (DER) was considered and approved in principle during BSP Strategic Management Planning Conference in November 2003. Monetary Board working on reorganization; proposed DES to form separate monetary and financial statistics group out of EFMG. - Expand coverage to include all financial institutions accepting deposits or issuing deposit substitutes, establish uniform conversion of foreign currency accounts, and incorporate market valuation of bank securities. - Action: Expansion in institutional coverage and uniform conversion implemented starting in March 2004 with publication of DCS covering all deposit-taking institutions. Initial periods covered Dec. 2001, Dec. 2002, Dec. 2003, January 2004 and February 2004. - Market valuation: Except for IBODI (valued at cost adjusted for discount/premium and provisions), banks and NBQBs required to mark-to-market investments in debt and marketable equity securities under Circular No. 161 dated March 30, 1998; Circular letter dated December 29, 2000 sets benchmarks and computation method. - Other Recommendations - Adopt plan to implement methodology/terminology of SNA 1993 and MFSM. - Action: Quarterly action plans submitted to Corporate Planning Office. Implementation part of Phase II (Phase I was expansion in institutional coverage and uniform valuation). Phase II to start in second half of 2004, limited to classification issues; not expected to significantly impact level of M3 and other aggregates. A 5-year monthly DCS series (2001–2005) expected to be completed by 2005. - Establish routine updating of sectorization of bank assets and liabilities in line with changes in composition of levels of government. - Action: Sectorization requirements to be addressed by SL Reporting System implementation for commercial banks (parallel testing started Jan. 2004), thrift banks (parallel testing started Feb. 2004) and rural banks. Inter-agency group (BSP, NSCB, DOF, COA) organized in October 2003 to agree on common updated sectorization of GOCCs; agreements to be forwarded to NSCB for endorsement and implementation by early 2005. - Provide compilers with unaudited BSP balance sheet within 10 calendar days after end of reference month. - Status: May not be feasible due to BSP receiving externally-managed funds data from custodians only ten days after reference month. - Exclude deposits of banks in liquidation from monetary aggregates. - Status: Implemented in March 2004 with publication of the DCS. - Incorporate accrued interest in underlying financial instrument. - Status: For incorporation in the SL Reporting System. - Improve coverage of financial instruments by collecting data on financial derivatives. - Status: Revised derivative transaction report format prepared and being finalized; derivatives database to be established within SES; revised report to be electronically transmitted and consolidated by ISTD-developed database. - Disseminate on a monthly basis detailed central bank survey, other depository corporation survey, more components of key monetary aggregates, and data on financial derivatives. - Status: Being implemented as data become available. A new table on DCS to be included in April 2004 Monthly Selected Philippine Economic Indicators publication. *Source: _cr04281 - 2. Monetary Statistics A. Comments on DQAF for the Monetary Statistics* ### 2. Statistical techniques ### _cr04281 - 2. Statistical techniques ### National accounts: data sources and tax treatment - National accounts use various data sources other than the NSO’s Quarterly Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (QSPBI). - Taxes are not estimated in quarterly national accounts; taxes are estimated on an annual basis. - Quarterly National Accounts publication does not include taxes as a separate item, but benchmark estimates of GVA by industry include taxes. - Annual National Accounts publication shows taxes as a separate item in: - tables on Factor Shares by Institution - a special table on Direct and Indirect Taxes ### Classifying Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) as residents - Practice: OFWs are classified as residents consistent with the 1993 SNA Manual, paragraph 4.15, which states: “an institutional unit is a resident of that country when it has a center of economic interest in the economic territory of that country. In most cases, a long period of time may be interpreted as one year or more, although this is suggested only as a guideline and not as an inflexible rule.” - Rationale: - OFWs considered members of resident households in the Philippines even if contracts may last up to two years. - Criterion based on nature of job and uniqueness in the Philippine setting. - Center of economic interest remains in the country as OFWs come back and forth to visit families and often return permanently after contract expiration. - OFWs remit a major portion of their compensation to their families. ### Recent developments and plans for statistical improvement (national accounts) - Adoption of the 1993 SNA and update of base year to 2000 required; revision program is comprehensive. - Revising 1991–2001 PSNA series to: - incorporate annual establishment data results of 1991–1998 - have 1999 to 2001 estimates based on annual/quarterly indicators - reconcile the annual series with the new quarterly accounts series - Linkage requirement: new series will be linked with the old link series, 1946–1999, published in 2002. - Base year and measurement plans: - shift to new base year with plans to use chain volume measures or update the base year every five years - extrapolation will be shortened - double-deflation may not be feasible given existing data sources; significant methodological improvements expected using the single deflation approach - request for information: desire to know which countries (developing, if possible) are doing double-deflation - Institutional arrangements: - Technical Working Group (TWG) formed to address OFW issues; NSCB and BSP are members - TWG on OFWs under the Inter-Agency Committee on Labor, Income and Productivity Statistics (IACLIPS) of the NSCB meeting regularly - Inter-Agency on Trade Statistics convened and meeting regularly - Compilation systems and dissemination: - computerized compilation system in place and under refinement for quarterly PSNA to increase transparency and reduce estimation errors - assessing feasibility of an earlier release of the quarterly national accounts in 2005 ### NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE (NSO) — Producer Price Index (PPI) - Transaction-specific characteristics of commodities: - Not included; defining commodity in market basket uses unit of measure, detailed product specification, and brand name. - Revision policy: - NSO sets revision policies which are internally recorded and not published on its website nor at IMF’s. - Technical Notes of the MISSI published at NSO website will be updated to include statement of these policies, sectoral weights, dissemination practice, etc. - Metadata provided to IMF will be updated. - Imputation of missing price data: - Method: use the latest price data reported, with about three (3) months lag. - Rationale: prices do not fluctuate very much on a monthly basis. - Response rate: close to 90% at release date; generally no significant difference between preliminary and revised indices. - Methodology of PPI computation: - At the 4-digit PSIC, the PPI is the average price relatives of the commodities. - No weights available at the commodity level if the entire 4-digit PSIC is considered. - For another survey with commodity-level data: recommendation to use commodity weights based on the proportion of the value of production of a particular sample commodity to total production reported by all sample commodities of the sub-industry. - Use of new methodology would need presentation to the NSCB Technical Committee on Survey Design for evaluation. - Availability of weights: - Latest PPI weight from the 1998 annual survey of manufactures. - Starting the January 2004 PPI, weights will hopefully be updated with the forthcoming release of the 2000 Census of Philippine Business and Industry for manufacturing (reference year is 1999). - Lag noted because the 2002 annual survey (reference year 2001) is yet at the processing stage. - Weights based on industries production data; not much yearly variation in industries’ contribution to total manufacturing. - The 2003 annual survey is scheduled to be conducted in mid-2004. ### NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE (NSO) — Consumer Price Index (CPI) - A study on the imputation of missing items shall be undertaken this year. ### DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE (DOF) and BUREAU OF THE TREASURY (BTr) — Government Finance Statistics (GFS): findings and planned actions - Authority and mandates: - Legal mandates of DOF and BTr do not have specific provision about data compilation; IMF recognizes DOF, through FPPO and BTr, “collects, complies, and disseminates fiscal data for the public sector.” - Significant dissemination of fiscal data occurs as a public service. - Data sharing and coordination (Secs. 0.1.2 and 0.1.4): - Ad hoc arrangements in place; not yet authorized and documented procedures for timely submission in conformity with GFSM 1986 and GFSM 2001. - Proposal: issue a DOF order instructing compliance with timely submission of data requirements for GFS; BTr tasked to draft the order. - Automation and systems (Sec. 0.2.1 and Sec. 0.2.2): - Existing computer system not authorized/able to automatically generate GFS from existing records. - Automation will follow once the New Government Accounting System (NGAS) is fully operationalized. - Pilot tests on automation are being undertaken by BTr to identify bugs. - Existing automated system can be improved; may request IMF technical assistance. - Documentation, quality assurance, and staff capacity (Sec. 0.3.1–1.1.1): - Undocumented processes to ensure quality of data collection and plans for emerging GFS needs. - Proposed DOF order will document procedures and specify reportorial requirements. - Lack of analytical work or staff methodological publications noted; plan to request IMF technical assistance to guide technical staff. - Reporting practices and compliance: - Change notifications: staff will change reportorial procedures to indicate notice of change in series going forward. - Ethical standards: IMF report stated staff behavior consistent with high ethical standards. - Non-compliance with GFSM 2001: GOP not fully compliant; implementation of NGAS critical for shift from cash to accrual reporting. - LGU reporting and source validation: - Reporting of annual LGU data will be enhanced by the Manual on the Statement of Income and Expenditures for Local Government Units (took effect in 2003). - Assessment and validation of source data concerns tied to cash reporting by BTr and accrual system of COA; to be resolved when NGAS is implemented by all government entities. - Reconciliation and cross-statistics coherence: - Reconciliation between fiscal sector and other macroeconomic statistics: Neda and BSP clarified they use BTr data for NG fiscal transactions. - BTr scheduling a meeting with BSP to reconcile GFS financing data with corresponding data from financial institutions. - Harmonization of fiscal accounts with national income accounts: authorities indicated steps will be taken to ensure consistency and reconcilability. - Documentation and dissemination improvements: - Documentation for data revisions to be done more consistently; DOF Statistical Bulletin future updates will indicate data series revisions in explanatory notes. - Cash Operations Report is publicly disseminated via the BTr website and in hard copies (contrary to an initial observation). - Concepts, sources, methods (C, S, & M) not significantly documented in reports; plan to request IMF technical assistance to improve reporting of C, S, & M information. - Contact persons and catalogue of statistical products/services not provided in publications; 2003 DOF Annual Report and Statistical Bulletin will include contact persons and a list of statistical products. - Coverage, consolidation, and conformity: - Available annual and quarterly statistical reporting exists but is not comprehensive/consolidated for central government, general government, or public sector transactions/stocks (Sec. 4.1.1); to be addressed by NGAS implementation. - Main aggregates do not fully conform to fully aggregated or consolidated data for public sector operations; fiscal data include deficit and financing data that were not consistent (Secs. 4.2.1 and 4.3.1); fiscal sector agencies intend to improve coverage of institutions and public sector transactions. - Explanation of statistical breaks not evident; recommendation to implement this in subsequent updates. - No routine focus on coherence between preliminary and final data to ascertain usability for policy; intended to be part of future reportorial improvements (Secs. 4.4.2 and 4.4.3). - Aggregates and details of National Government accounts not in full conformity with GFSM 1986 or GFSM 2001; NGAS implementation and shift to accrual accounting expected to enable conformity (Sec. 5.1.1). - Data on main aggregates, capital stock, and public sector stocks/flows: some data available but not fully used for compiling GFS; no data on government’s capital stock available (page 14, 3.1.1). ### COMMISSION ON AUDIT (COA) — Government Finance Statistics: observations and plans A. Differences of view with assessments - Holding gains and other changes in volume: - Observation: NGAS chart of accounts does not permit compilation of complete detailed data on holding gains and other changes in volume. - Response: NGAS chart provides Gain/Loss Accounts for recording holding gains for foreign-currency transactions and upon disposal/payment; rules and regulations being updated to conform with international accounting standards. - Estimation of general government consumption: - Observation: General government consumption estimated as sum of cost components at current and constant prices; includes estimated consumption of fixed assets (perpetual inventory method) as part of cost of production of government. - Response: Consumption of fixed assets (property, plant and equipment/depreciation) is based on acquisition cost using straight line method after providing for an estimated salvage value. - Inventories/consumables recorded using perpetual inventory method; expenses recorded upon issuance/consumption using moving average method. B. Recent developments - Recording timing of national source expenditure data: - Observation: Expenditures recorded at time expenditure authorized and funds allocated rather than when agencies take funds or receive goods/services. - Response: Practice was used by NGAs and LGUs before NGAS adoption in fiscal year 2002. - COA Annual Financial Reports for NGAs and LGUs for fiscal year 2002 onwards reflect assets and expenses recorded upon receipt/purchase of goods and services rendered. - GOCCs adopting accrual method where expenditures recorded upon receipt of goods and rendition of services. C. Plans for statistical development - NGAS chart of accounts and GFSM alignment: - Observation: NGAS chart does not follow GFSM 1986 and GFSM 2001 statistical guidelines. - Response: NGAS chart may be modified to include accounting information/transactions aligned with international accounting standards. - COA Circular No. 2004-002 dated April 29, 2004 requires adoption of NGAS chart of accounts by GOCCs effective January 1, 2005. - Net acquisition of financial assets and liabilities detail: - Observation: NGAS chart does not permit compilation of complete detailed data on net acquisition of financial assets and complete liability data by instrument or sector of creditor. - Response: COA developing standard accounts for the three government sectors; when properly applied NGAS can permit compilation of detailed data by instrument and sector. - Adoption of Responsibility Center Accounting and full implementation of electronic New Government Accounting System (e-NGAS) will enable detailed compilation by sector. - Use of source data and alignment with GFSM: - Observation: Substantial source data available but not sufficiently used for compiling GFS; some data not fully consistent with GFSM 1986 or GFSM 2001. - Response: NGAS chart may not be aligned to GFSM but to International Accounting Standards. - Recording basis and currency conversion: - Observation: Transactions recorded at market prices; foreign-currency conversions into US dollar made at exchange rates prevailing on day of transaction or by taking exchange in two outstanding balances sometimes adjusted for valuation changes; transactions generally recorded on cash rather than accrual basis. - Response: Accounting guidelines and procedures on recording foreign currency transactions are being updated under NGAS to conform to International Accounting Standards. - Compilation/consolidation and reconciliation problems: - Observation: Differences in net bank credit between Treasury and bank data; budgetary arrears poorly defined; reconciliation hampered by difference in coverage, concepts, definitions, and insufficient explanatory notes; no public revision studies. - Response and context: - NSCB, the agency compiling national accounts, does not correct source data and depends on data from NSO, DA, BSP, and DBM; DBM is source for general government data (page 14, 3.1.1). - Government finance statistics available annually from Commission on Audit and quarterly from DBM; latter based on cash flows registered by the Bureau of the Treasury; no data on government’s capital stock available (page 14, 3.1.1). - High-priority recommendation: grant one DOF entity authority to coordinate data collection in accordance with international guidelines. - COA (GAFMIS) inclusion in orientation and methodology development is important. - Future integrated financial management system (IFMS) involving DOF, BTr, COA, and other agencies may be established to ensure accurate, timely, and complete compilation of national accounts. *Source: _cr04281 - 2. Statistical techniques* ### 9. Observation: No other statistical techniques have been reported for adjusting ### 9. Observation: No other statistical techniques have been reported for adjusting ### Summary finding on fiscal data adjustments - No other statistical techniques have been reported for adjusting reporting fiscal data. - This absence is reflected in the mismatch between data on deficits and financing for the public sector, as reported by DOF. - In light of new procedures being undertaken by DOF officials, no need for dramatic adjustments was perceived. - Some adjustments are expected due to absence of certain details in the Chart of Accounts that would permit: - accurate consolidation of quarterly stock and flow statistics on the central government, and - consolidation of annual stock and flow statistics on the general government and the public sector. ### Chart of Accounts and subsidiary ledgers - The absence of details in the Chart of Accounts will be addressed by requiring agencies to maintain subsidiary ledgers. - Purpose: permit accurate consolidation of stock and flow statistics across government sectors. ### NGAS Chart of Accounts adoption and consolidation - Inasmuch as the NGA, LGUs, and GOCCs adopt the NGAS Chart of Accounts, consolidation of their financial transactions may be done. - However, separate Annual Financial Reports for each sector shall be prepared by the Commission on Audit. ### Definition and boundaries of the public sector - Need for clarification on the definition of public sector: - The written definition/discussion implies that "public sector" pertains to public corporation. - Figure 2.2 presented implies that it consists of the general government and the public corporation. - Action implied: reconcile textual definition with schematic representation to ensure consistent consolidation and reporting. ### Relevant contextual and institutional details (from surrounding assessment) - Document prepared by the Statistics Department; Approved by Carol S. Carson and David Burton; date: August 10, 2004. - NSCB staff relevant notes: - Current relevant NSCB staff occupies 35, out of 50 positions available. - In 2003, from the total institutional budget of the NSCB, 22.2 percent was allocated to the compilation of the national accounts. - A schedule agreed for quarterly national accounts first estimates allows 30 days after the end of the reference period for compilation. - The national accounts compilation system has been automated using Windows 2000. *IMF — Detailed Assessments Using the Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF), Philippines — Extract: Observation on fiscal data adjustment and Chart of Accounts (August 10, 2004).* ### 1.2 Transparency ### 1.2 Transparency ### 1.2.1 The terms and conditions under which statistics are collected, processed, and disseminated are available to the public - The Statistical Act and the Executive Orders governing the functions of the NSCB are posted on the institution’s website and are available at the NSCB National Statistical Information Center. - The NSCB website provides: - a wide range of information about the agency and its products, including where they can be found; - the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the responsible compilers; - a catalog of publications (also available at the Information Center). - Publications contain the release calendar for the statistics and the names of responsible staff, although not all publications refer to other publications of the institution. ### 1.2.2 Internal governmental access to statistics prior to their release is publicly identified - Quarterly national accounts estimates are made available to the NEDA Secretary and to the President of the Republic one day before the release at a press conference. - Prior access to the data by the government has been made public only through the SDDS bulletin board on the IMF website. ### 1.2.3 Products of statistical agencies/units are clearly identified as such - The NSCB clearly identifies all its publications with its name and logo. - Inputs of other producing agencies are acknowledged in every publication. - In joint publications (example: input-output tables), both institutions are identified. ### 1.2.4 Advance notice is given of major changes in methodology, source data, and statistical techniques - For national accounts, new methodology is discussed in advance in forums of experts and users. - Discussions have been held on the forthcoming introduction of a new series of national accounts based on the 1993 SNA. - In past special cases (e.g., significant revisions to foreign trade data), the public was informed in advance by press releases by the NSCB, the NSO and the BSP. ### 1.3 Ethical standards (summary as provided in the source) - New staff receive orientation on NSCB norms of conduct and ethical standards; guidelines and standards are outlined on the NSCB intranet. - NSCB has formulated a set of core values required of each staff; staff attend regular flag ceremony and an annual values orientation workshop. - Staff must adhere to the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Publics Officials and Employees,” as provided in Republic Act No. 6713, approved on February 20, 1989, and the rules for their implementation issued in April 1989. ### 2. Methodological Soundness (selected material contiguous to Transparency section) - Presently, the Philippines’s national accounts estimates disseminated are based on the 1968 SNA; a new series following the 1993 SNA (starting with data referred to year 1991) is to be released in May 2004. - The PSNA comprises estimates of GDP by production and by expenditure, compiled at current prices and at constant prices of 1985; quarterly estimates are available from 1981. - Under the present PSNA: - consolidated accounts of the nation up to the external transactions account are compiled; - income and outlay accounts are compiled by sector using the 1968 SNA classification (private corporations, government corporations, general government and households including the nonprofit institutions serving households); - regional national accounts, an annual breakdown of GDP by income factors, and separate estimates for the nonobserved activities are available. - The new series based on the 1993 SNA will cover the whole sequence of accounts from production to the capital account for the nation and for the institutional sectors; preliminary estimates available for discussion for 1991–98. - Input-output tables are compiled with a scheduled five-year frequency; work under way on tables for the year 2000; most updated tables correspond to 1994. - Scope and residence notes: - territorial enclaves in the rest of the world, free zones, and factories operated by off-shore enterprises under customs control (export processing industries) are included; - nationals of the Philippines working abroad for more than one year are considered residents (contrary to internationally recommended practices)—same concept used in compilation of balance of payments by the central bank. - Coverage of specific activities: - only own-account production of agricultural products is explicitly included; - production for own-consumption of manufactured goods may be partially included via nonobserved economic activity estimates; - own-production of capital goods is included (separate data from periodical establishment surveys); - research and development for third parties and mineral exploration are included to the extent captured in establishment surveys, but not when for own use of establishments; - production of artistic originals and of specialized computer software are not included. ### 2.3 Classification/sectorization (selected points) - Present PSNA uses 1968 SNA classifications; the new series will use 1993 SNA classifications. - Industries are classified using the Philippine Standard Industrial Classification (PSIC), 1994 edition, based on ISIC, Rev 3. - A national classification of products, compatible with the Central Product Classification (CPA), is being used for the new series. - The present system uses the 1968 SNA guidelines for household consumption expenditure classification; the new series will incorporate COICOP and COFOG classifications. ### 2.4 Basis for recording (selected points) - Market output is valued at producer prices in the present PSNA and at basic prices in the new series based on the 1993 SNA; output for own-use is valued at cost. - Excise and sales taxes levied on purchases of inputs in production are included in intermediate consumption (valued at purchaser prices); nondeductible portion of VAT is included in intermediate consumption. - No correction for transfer prices is made. - Most transactions are registered on an accrual basis; exceptions include government revenues (based on cash flows). - Preliminary quarterly estimates of general government expenditures are based on cash data adjusted for accounts payables; these estimates are corrected when the annual report on an accrual basis becomes available. - Transactions between establishments within the same enterprise are recorded on a gross basis. ### 3. Accuracy and Reliability (selected material) - The NSCB does not collect source data for the national accounts; it depends on other agencies: NSO, DOA, BSP, and DBM; DBM is source for general government data, DOA for agriculture, BSP for balance of payments; financial reports of enterprises obtained via the SEC are an important source for compiling new series. - NSO data collection and surveys: - monthly "Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries" covering manufacturing provides employment, compensation, revenue, inventories of finished goods, and prices; combined with producer price index to calculate monthly industrial production index. - quarterly establishment survey covers all sectors except agriculture, fishing, and government; results not published but are principal source for GDP by industry (collects employment, compensation, production value for manufacturing, sales, total inventories, capacity utilization). - annual establishment surveys (except census years) and censuses every five years (last three censuses: 1988, 1994, 1999). - family income and expenditure survey (FIES) every three years; last survey conducted in 2000; covers households nationally with provincial representativeness; uses the consumption concept including own-produced goods and transfers/payments in kind. - Sampling and indices: - list of establishments based on industrial censuses updated annually using administrative data (licenses from local governments, Department of Trade and Industry, and the SEC) serves as sampling frame. - annual surveys use stratified one-stage simple random sampling; large establishments included with certainty. - monthly and quarterly surveys are cut-off samples; monthly survey provides Laspeyres indices (weights of 1994); imputation for nonresponse applied; sample updated once a year. - quarterly survey derives current-year-to-previous-year value and volume measures at three- and four-digit industry levels; activity indicator is revenue; volume measures obtained by deflating current values by industry representative subindex within the wholesale price index (PPI is used in the monthly survey). - Government finance statistics: - available annually from the “Commission of Audit of the Republic” and quarterly from the DBM (DBM data based on cash flows registered by the Bureau of Treasury). - No data on government’s capital stock are available. - Ad hoc surveys undertaken as needed (example: Input-Output Survey of Establishments (IOSE) conducted in 2000 for intermediate consumption data). ### 3.1 Source data assessments - Matching definitions and exceptions: - Source data usually match national accounts definitions, scope, classifications, valuation, and time of recording, with exceptions for time of recording of government expenditure and government income (registered on a cash basis). - Some establishment survey data reference fiscal year rather than calendar year. - Financial data may embed valuation discrepancies (production and intermediate consumption reported may include holding gains). - Timeliness issues: - Not all data are timely; the most significant delay is annual establishment surveys (last available results at the time were for 1998). - Price statistics from NSO and BAS are timely. - Detailed trade statistics available only for the first two months at the time of preliminary quarterly national accounts estimates; an aggregate estimate for the third month is available and later revised. - Balance of payments statistics available for first two months of current quarter; NSCB bases estimate for the third month on partial data and updates/revises later. - Quarterly bank reports are no longer available from the central bank; bank data are obtained via establishment surveys. - NSCB seeks timely data via memorandums of agreements and written communications specifying schedules for data submission. - Examples of data delays: - 1994 Census data became available in late 1997; - annual survey data for 1998 became available in late 2002; - data from the 1996 and 1997 annual surveys (conducted at the same time) became available in 2002. *Source: _cr04281 - 1.2 Transparency* ### 3.2 Statistical techniques ### _cr04281 - 3.2 Statistical techniques ### 3.2.1 Data compilation and production-approach procedures - The compilation system of the Philippines’ national accounts relies greatly on the quarterly estimates since data of 1991. - No explicit estimates of output and intermediate consumption exist for most industries; estimates are based on the quarterly establishment surveys. - Output is explicitly estimated for: agriculture, mining, construction, utilities, financial institutions, general government, and some subsectors of the transportation and communications industry. - For other industries, estimates are limited to gross value added at current and at constant prices of 1985, derived by extrapolation of the 1988 benchmark-year corresponding data using value and volume indices of output and applying the fixed input-output ratios of that year. - Output indicators and derived value-added estimates are compiled at reasonable disaggregation, at least at the three-digit levels of the industrial classification; agriculture compilation is by products in some cases. - Disaggregated estimates of intermediate consumption based on updated data are not available; current price estimates of intermediate consumption implicit in the accounts are derived using the fixed input-output ratios of 1988 benchmark estimates. - Delay in annual survey results has hampered updating of intermediate consumption; reliance on outdated fixed ratios is considerably high. - Estimates of own-occupied dwellings output: - Based on benchmark data of the 1990 Census of Population and Housing (provides estimates of imputed rents) and extrapolations. - Changes in construction permits of dwellings (adjusted by damaged dwellings) are used as a volume indicator; the corresponding CPI rents item is the price indicator. - No changes in quality or in structure of production are taken into account; the volume indicator does not adequately reflect changes in housing stocks. - Work in progress in agriculture is not considered (registered at time of harvest only). - No adjustments of inventory valuation were done on output and intermediate consumption in annual surveys and censuses; accounting data reported by enterprises are deemed to include holding gains both in output and intermediate consumption. Annual estimates for the last benchmark year of 1988, as well as annual estimates compiled independently based on annual surveys up to 1991, include holding gains. - Capital consumption and stocks: - Perpetual inventory method used to calculate gross fixed capital stock of government and to derive consumption of fixed capital. - For the private sector, unadjusted reported figures on capital consumption are taken from financial reports. - Partial corrections to cash-basis government expenditures reported quarterly are done for national accounts compilation. - Taxes and subsidies used in the national accounts are on a cash basis. - Deflation and volume estimation procedures: - A single indicator method is broadly applied for compilation of value added at constant prices. - For industries based on quarterly surveys (including manufacturing, trade, private services), a value indicator of output is used to extrapolate average quarterly value of value added in the previous year; resulting current-price value added is then deflated by an appropriate output deflator. - This procedure deviates from the intended assumption of fixed input-output ratios at constant prices and from internationally accepted practices: deflation of value added is not an accepted practice since the price of value added is implicit. - Correct procedure (to apply fixed input-output at constant prices) should be extrapolation of base-year estimates of value added by a volume index of output. - Direct deflation of estimated value added may overstate volume measures where input-output ratio at constant prices of 1985 is higher than corresponding ratio at current prices in 1988, and may understate where the ratio is lower. - Volume measures of net taxes and import taxes are obtained by deflating current estimates by the implicit deflator of value added for all industries; recommended practice is to link these taxes to the tax base and extrapolate base-year taxes by volume measures of imports and outputs at disaggregated levels. ### Expenditure-approach procedures - GDP by expenditure is calculated independently, with preference given to GDP from the production approach. A statistical discrepancy is shown in the expenditure side; no component is calculated as residual. - General government consumption: - Estimated as the sum of cost components both at current and at constant prices. - Includes estimated consumption of fixed assets based on the perpetual inventory method. - Household consumption expenditure: - Derived mainly using a commodity flow approach at detailed levels; some data from household income and expenditure surveys and administrative data are used. - COICOP classification not yet implemented; COFOG classification for government consumption not yet implemented. Both classifications to be introduced in the new series based on 1993 SNA methodology. - Gross fixed capital formation: - Estimated by type of asset, but no breakdown by activity. - Estimates separated for private and public sector. - Changes in inventories: - Not exhaustive due to data limitations: quarterly surveys collect inventories only from manufacturers and trade establishments, excluding relatively small service-industry producers. - Estimates include inventories of agriculture products, mining establishments, government, petroleum products, manufacturing, and trade industries. - No breakdown by type of inventories. - In expenditure approach, changes in inventories exclude holding gains (revaluation adjustments applied). - Correct procedure used to estimate changes in inventories at constant prices by taking difference of deflated closing and opening values; lack of product composition/type prevents appropriate deflators. - Government final expenditure excludes incidental sales. - Household consumption expenditure estimates include expenses of residents abroad but do not include expenditure by resident workers abroad; expenses of nonresidents are excluded from household consumption and included in exports (consistent with balance of payments). There are no estimates of valuables. - Exports and imports: - Goods at constant prices are estimated by a revaluation procedure using unit values of 1985 at two-digit level of foreign trade classification. - Some import components deflated by price indices of trade partners. - Revaluation at two-digit level may not consider composition and quality changes since 1985; more appropriate is deflation at detailed product levels. - Exports of services deflated by relevant domestic prices; imports of services deflated by price indices of trading partners. ### Specific quarterly compilation techniques - For most recent years, no need to benchmark quarterly estimates to annual figures as annual estimates are sum of quarters. - Annual estimates up to 1991 were obtained independently and Bassie method of benchmarking was used. - Main aggregates are seasonally adjusted using X-11 Arima software. ### 3.2.2 Other statistical procedures - Adjustment for undercoverage is made to estimates. - Nonrecorded production by industry corrected using labor statistics and relevant data on output per employee of small establishments in surveys. - Survey documentation includes descriptions of imputation methods for nonresponse; nonresponse rates and sampling errors are made available for random-sample surveys (e.g., annual establishment surveys and household income and expenditure surveys). - Outliers are excluded only after exhaustive validation by compiling agencies; national accounts compilers flag high-value transactions for data checks with respondents. - Administrative data assessed via technical committees, interagency committees and task forces; NSCB coordinates and usually participates; committees meet at least once a quarter. - A task force (Central Bank, NSO, NSCB, Bureau of Customs, Export Processing Zones; chaired by NEDA) resulted in a significant upward revision of foreign trade data and consequent revisions of balance of payments and national accounts; work ongoing and a solution for backwards revisions for years prior to 2000 still needs to be addressed. - Established procedures include checking consistency of source data: growth rates of nominal and volume values checked for temporal consistency and compared with related indicators. ### 3.3 Assessment and validation of source data - NSO calculates and makes available sampling errors for surveys based on random sampling and provides nonresponse rates. - The Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System (SSRCS), headed by NSCB, documents and reviews all statistical surveys and submits annual reports to NSCB’s Executive Board. - Surveys periodically reviewed by technical committees. - Coordination with source-data agencies maintained; a steering committee for implementing the 1993 SNA includes NSO, Central Bank, DOF, BTr, Bureau of Agriculture Statistics, Insurance Commissions, and SEC; representatives participated in 1993 SNA training. ### 3.4 Assessment and validation of intermediate data and statistical outputs - Intermediate source data validated against related indicators where possible (e.g., production compared with employment and exports). - Intermediate data assessed against alternative estimates when different sources or methods available. - GDP estimates explicitly show production-expenditure discrepancy; NSCB investigates and tries to maintain it below 5 percent. - No unofficial GDP estimates; differences with other official indicators are subject to analysis and special studies. - Noted discrepancy between manufacturing growth rates in the “Volume of Production Index” (VOPI) and manufacturing value-added in national accounts: - Causes include different aggregation weights (value added vs sales), different production structures used (national accounts use 1985 structure; VOPI uses 1994), different price indices, and VOPI bias due to compilation from responding establishments only with no imputations for nonresponse. ### 3.5 Revision studies - NSCB routinely analyzes and studies revisions and maintains a “History of Revisions” in its database. - Revisions are widely disseminated in publications and on NSCB Internet website with explanations of causes. - Quarterly data are presented with confidence-interval estimates to indicate preliminary nature and measure reliability. ### 4 Serviceability — Relevance, Timeliness, Periodicity, Consistency - Relevance and user consultation: - Since 1990, forums used to consult users and experts. - First Users’ Forum on National Accounts conducted for implementation of 1993 SNA; follow-up workshops twice a year as NSCB pilots 1993 SNA implementation. - Latest workshop noted was conducted in 2002 for the Expert Group Forum reviewing initial revised estimates based on 1993 SNA. - NSCB staff and management regularly assess adequacy after quarterly press conferences; Secretary General meets staff to discuss issues. - NSCB actively tracks international national accounts developments and participates in seminars. - Timeliness and periodicity: - Quarterly PSNA is disseminated 60 days after the end of the reference quarter for the first three quarters and 30 days after the reference period for the last quarter (last-quarter estimates are revised a few months later in May). - Dissemination of quarterly estimates exceeds SDDS timeliness requirements. - Philippines compiles and disseminates quarterly national accounts as prescribed by SDDS. - Consistency within dataset: - GDP by production and expenditure compiled independently; GDP by industry considered more reliable; statistical discrepancy explicitly shown on expenditure side. - Discrepancy has been substantially lower than six percent in most years during 1997–2002. - Internal inconsistency: treatment of Philippine nationals working abroad—considered residents even when staying abroad over a year; their income registered as factor income but their expenditure abroad not included in accounts as imports or final consumption. Only workers staying under a year should be residents; transfers by other workers should be registered as “remittances” (current transfers). - Since 1991, annual national accounts estimates are obtained as the sum of quarterly estimates; for previous years benchmarking (Bassie method) was used. - Consistency over time: - PSNA has maintained a linked series going back to 1945, but May 2003 updates from revisions of BOP, BAS, and NSO series for 2000–02 introduced a break in the series by entailing further revisions from 1999 backwards. - Consistency with other data sources/frameworks: - PSNA aligned with BOP estimates except for compensation of overseas Filipino workers and imports of travel services. - For compensation of overseas Filipino workers, NSCB uses earnings estimates while BOP estimates are based on remittances. - Imports of travel services: BOP uses banking administrative sources; national accounts rely on benchmark estimate from Department of Tourism (DOT) survey and tourism trend estimates based on tax collection (travel taxes). - General government estimates: expenditures align with GFS statistics; revenues in PSNA use Bureau of Treasury (BTr) modified cash data. *Source: _cr04281 - 3.2 Statistical techniques (extracted content).* ### 4.4 Revision policy and practice ### 4.4 Revision policy and practice ### 4.4.1 Revisions follow a regular, well-established, and transparent schedule - The PSNA follows a revision cycle at a predetermined schedule. - In July 1997, the NSCB instituted the PSNA Revision Policy (NSCB resolution No. 8–97). A copy of this resolution is provided in all regular publications of the PSNA. - Revisions are made known to the public through technical notes published on the institution’s website. - Details of the causes of revisions are included in the publications. ### 4.4.2 Preliminary data are clearly identified - Users are informed of the preliminary, revised, and final series through forums, press conferences, technical notes, and statistical series on the institutional website. - In publications and on the website series are labeled using the date of release as a reference. ### 4.4.3 Studies and analyses of revisions are made public - An analysis of preliminary versus revised data is published for the major aggregates on the NSCB website and in its publications. - The national accounts publication includes explanations on the causes of revisions. - Analysis of revision is part of press conference materials. - Detailed tables of revisions, available upon request, compare estimates released at different periods. - A printed report, the Analysis of the Revised Philippine System of the National Accounts, is available, prepared adhoc. --- ### 5. Accessibility ### 5.1 Data accessibility 5.1.1 Presentation, layout, and clarity - Quarterly publication: - GDP by industry presented at the three-digit level of the PSIC. - Expenditure side includes a breakdown of capital formation by main type of asset. - Exports presented at a detailed level of main products. - Household consumption expenditure presented with a breakdown of ten major groups, following the 1968 SNA classification. - For government, only the total consumption expenditure estimates are presented. - Interpretation aids: highlights of main findings, references to data sources, technical notes, sources of revisions, charts and graphics, and tables. - Quarterly data provide confidence intervals for GDP estimated growth rates; however, growth rates are not clearly indicated as annual rates (quarter to same quarter of previous year). - Regular quarterly publication presents series for the last three years. - Data are presented after adjustment for seasonality. - Publications state terms of use and provide contact names and addresses of persons involved in compilation. - Website: - Presents data for aggregates covering the last three years. - All series are available to subscribers to the NSCB’s website. - Other users may obtain data upon request and for the payment of a nominal fee. 5.1.2 Dissemination media and formats - Data released at a regular quarterly scheduled press conference together with the printed publication, provided to the press, and simultaneously posted on the NSCB’s website. - Longer series available for subscribers to the website; other users can obtain information upon request and payment of a fee. 5.1.3 Advance release calendar - In 1997 the NSCB put in practice an advance release calendar of the PSNA (NSCB Board Resolution No. 9, Series of 1997). - The calendar of the following year is published every October on the NSCB’s website and is included in printed publications. 5.1.4 Simultaneous availability to all users - No advance briefing to the press is done before the date stated in the advance release calendar. - Data are released to all users simultaneously through the website; printed publications are made available at the National Statistical Information Center (NSIC). - Estimates are made available to the Secretary of NEDA and to the President of the Republic 24 hours before their release. 5.1.5 Availability of nonpublished (but nonconfidential) subaggregates - Subaggregate nonconfidential data are available upon request for a nominal fee. - Availability of nonpublic statistics is made known to the public through the NSCB website. ### 5.2 Metadata accessibility 5.2.1 Documentation on concepts, scope, classifications, sources, and methods - Metadata for the PSNA is available on the IMF’s SDDS bulletin board. - Descriptions of sources and methods are available on the NSCB website. - A manual on Sources and Methods is available to the public. - Technical notes and articles and statistical series on national accounts are regularly posted on the NSCB website. 5.2.2 Levels of detail adapted to intended audience - Announcements are made through the NSCB website. - A manual on Sources and Methods is available as stated above. ### 5.3 Assistance to users 5.3.1 Contact persons publicized - List of staff involved in national accounts compilation and their area of specialization is included in publications and on the website. - The NSCB’s Information Center (NSIC) handles requests. - Meetings with users are undertaken to keep updated on users’ needs. - Users’ needs are monitored through feedback from press conferences and NSIC requests. 5.3.2 Catalogs and fees - Catalog of publications, documents, and other services are available on the institutional website. - Some (not all) printed publications include the list of publications by category and other products and services. - The price list of NSCB publications is available at the NSIC. --- ### Additional findings on related statistical programs (from the same source) - Table 1 assessment highlights (summary statements from the table): - 1968 SNA conceptual framework is used. - National workings abroad for more than a year are in the scope of resident units. - Government revenues are recorded on a cash basis. - Uses of comparative samples. Long delay on surveys’ results. Incomplete high frequency data. - Direct deflation of value added and taxes. Outdated base year. - Lack of comprehensive procedures. Lack of supply and use framework. - No established policy for benchmark and base year updates. - Lack of internal consistency and with balance of payment in the treatment of the transactions of workers abroad. - Consumer Price Index (CPI) program resource and legal highlights: - Legal framework: Executive Order No. 121 (October 1, 1987); Commonwealth Act No. 591 (August 19, 1940); Presidential Decree No. 418 (March 20, 1974); Executive Order No. 352 (July 1, 1996). - CA No. 591: Section 4 requires data furnished to NSO be kept strictly confidential and used for statistical purposes only; Section 3 sets disclosure penalties at 600 pesos or six months’ imprisonment, or both. - Data sharing: CPI data are collected almost entirely by the NSO; memorandum of agreement with the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics (BAS) coordinates food price collection in some cities. - CPI staffing, computing, and budget details: - Thirty-five staff in the NSO’s Economic Indices and Indicators Division under Industry & Trade Statistics Department are responsible for the CPI. Of these, 18 work just on the CPI. - Field network: 16 regional and 79 provincial offices employ a staff of more than 2,000. - Each field office has at least six data collectors. - Person-per-computer ratio in the CPI is a little less than 2. - Out of more than 3,000 positions in the NSO, some 300 are currently vacant. - CPI software is described as a little outdated but performing solidly. - Financial resources for the CPI are adequate though the NSO competes for resources; budget cuts have constrained some surveys. - Training: staff participate in continuous training, international seminars such as those provided by the IMF and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), and a month-long Group A Statistical Training conditional on a competitive exam. - Confidentiality and access controls: - A list of persons who may have access to sensitive CPI data is maintained. - Access to NSO offices is restricted to staff only; NSO servers are password protected. - Field offices are instructed to maintain appropriate levels of confidentiality in storing collected individual price data. _Italic source: _cr04281 - 4.4 Revision policy and practice_ (PDF) ### 0.3 Quality awareness ### 0.3 Quality awareness ### 0.3.1 Processes are in place to focus on quality - NSO management is strongly committed to data quality; the mission statement concentrates on providing quality statistics and is displayed on publications and around offices. - A recent quarterly regional conference of directors was conducted on data quality. - A current development plan, in-progress, puts forward further quality improvement. - Recognition received: - Philippine Quality Award in 1999 (first government agency to receive it). - E-government Award last year for its e-census project. ### 0.3.2 Processes are in place to monitor the quality of the collection, processing, and dissemination of statistics - Validation and supervision - NSO validates stages on data collection and CPI compilation. - Regional offices supervise provincial price collection and raise problems to the central office. - Major surveys, such as household expenditure surveys, include comprehensive validation processes approved by the NSCB. - Institutional review systems - NSCB operates the Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System (SSRCS) to evaluate design and instruments of government statistical surveys. - A self assessment of nine statistical agencies was conducted, presented and published in the latest Conference on Development Statistics, are conducted every two years. - Incentives and user engagement - Field Award System for NSO field offices recognizes overall quality and grades field offices on timeliness and quality. - Quarterly Customer Satisfaction Survey is conducted. - For all new statistical series NSO plans to publish, consultative forums for data users and respondents are organized to discuss methods. ### 0.3.3 Processes are in place to deal with quality considerations, including tradeoffs within quality, and to guide planning for existing and emerging needs - Technical oversight - Technical Committee on Price Statistics (TCP) evaluates needs for improving quality. - Major users of price data are represented on NSCB board, technical committees, and task forces enabling continuous dialogue. - For new series, a Users’ Forum one-day seminar for government and private sector data users is held. - Tradeoff exploration and modernization - NSO implemented less-detailed pilot surveys to investigate trade-offs between timeliness and accuracy. - NSO is implementing electronic questionnaires. ### 1. Integrity — Professionalism (1.1) - Legal and organizational independence - Executive Order No. 121 sets the ground for independence of the statistical system. - NSO guided by principles of truth and professional integrity; management promotes professionalism through training and coordination within the PSS. - Human resources and training - Positions evaluated with qualification standards set by the Civil Service Commission. - Human Resource Management Division operates a comprehensive four-month training program for qualified NSO employees. - Staff encouraged to present papers; October designated National Statistics Month. - Memorandum of agreement signed with the Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis (IDEA) to train selected NSO personnel; IDEA organizes lectures in return for research access to more detailed but nonidentifiable data. - Source and technique choices - Choices of source data and techniques are based solely on statistical considerations; no deviations found. - Right to comment on misuse - NSO monitors newspapers and comments on erroneous reporting. - Misunderstandings addressed in National Price Coordinating Council meetings. - NSO publishes summary methodologies and formulas to calculate industry contributions to overall index change rates. ### 1.2 Transparency - Legal and procedural disclosure - Summaries of laws posted on NSCB website; full texts available upon request from NSO and NSCB. - All NSO publications either outline legal terms or indicate where more information can be found. - Pre-release governmental access - A copy of the CPI monthly report and accompanying press release is hand-delivered, under seal, to the Director General of the NEDA for information, not for approval, one day prior to scheduled release and disclosed only on the SDDS website. - Product identification and attribution - CPI press release and monthly, quarterly, and annual publications include NSO logos and name; monthly press releases signed by the Administrator. - Attribution is requested for any reference to NSO statistics or publications. - Advance notice of changes - Advance calendar posted on NSO and NSCB websites; press release in advance of monthly schedule including CPI. - Changes in methodology, weight data, or base year are discussed at technical committee meetings and indicated by press release ahead of new series publishing. - Methodology changes take place at time of base year change and weight change, occurring relatively predictably about every five years. ### 1.3 Ethical standards - Staff behavior guidelines - Core values posted in internal memos and publications; mission statement emphasizes integrity, objectivity, and professionalism. - New staff made aware during orientation and reminded periodically. - Obligations under legislation emphasized to informants and users. - Office of the Administrator circulates general codes of conduct as memoranda. ### 2. Methodological Soundness — Concepts, scope, classification, recording - Concepts and definitions (2.1) - Current CPI weights come from the 1994 Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES 94), using an internationally accepted definition of household final consumption expenditure. - For the new index, the 2000 FIES has been finalized, a new market basket prepared, and price collection started. - Detailed guide for specifying characteristics of sample goods and services provided to field staff; item specifications centrally reviewed; TCP reviews price concepts and accepts methodology. - Scope (2.2) - Scope broadly consistent with consumption-based CPI; institutionalized people excluded, all resident households included (households of all income levels, urban and rural, farmers, fishers, households operating small specialty shops or kiosks). - Transactions covered broadly follow household final consumption defined in the 1993 SNA; owner-occupied housing and production for own final consumption included; gifts, some disbursements, illegal market goods/services excluded; durable consumer goods bought on secondhand markets left out. - Classification/sectorization (2.3) - Classifications meet standards: 1993 SNA for households/transactions; product classification follows Philippine Standard Commodity Classification derived from Standard Industrial Trade Classification; link with COICOP made for internal use. - Product classification for FIES is different but linked to CPI classification; review and maintenance centralized to NSCB. - Basis for recording (2.4) - Weights valued at purchasers’ prices including taxes and distribution margins; market prices used for own-account production; rental equivalent used for owner-occupied housing. - Selling market prices collected for monthly index; interest payments on credit purchase excluded. - Recording timing: prices generally collected in the first five days of the reference month and refer to selling prices. - For food prices collected weekly or every other week, an arithmetic average-over-the-week price is used. - Some items (tuition fees; some medical and dental charges in Metro Manila) gathered twice a year. - Changes in regulated transportation and communication rates accounted once implemented. - No netting in weights needed with respect to secondhand goods; no price data for secondhand purchases collected. ### 3. Accuracy and Reliability — Source data, techniques, validation, revisions - Source data (3.1) - FIES 94 sample: three-stage sample of 41,000 interviewed households based on detailed provincial domains; survey coverage includes all households. - COS 1994 conducted on a subset of FIES sample to inform popular goods specifications and place of purchase; sample supplemented by field staff knowledge; no scientific sampling for products/outlets but most important ones selected; final outlet selection responsibility given to provincial offices. - 1994 index: 74 provincial market baskets and 10 market baskets for selected cities. - A total of 415,000 prices collected monthly from 9,500 outlets around the country. - To coordinate price collection: BAS collects prices for food items in Metro Manila and other cities where it has offices; NOS collects the rest of the food items and all nonfood items in provinces; questionnaires are the same for both agencies. - The FIES and CPI weight and price data meet standards; no real conceptual deviations found. - FIES periodicity and timeliness: - Every three years the Family Income and Expenditures Survey is conducted. - Results for the current 1994-based CPI weights were finalized by 1997. - Final results for FIES 2000 were published in December 2001, but main aggregates were already available in August 2001. - Price collection is timely; no other price indicators used for the CPI. - Statistical techniques (3.2) - Expenditure estimates derived at the 4-digit level for each province; weights from FIES are in sufficient detail. - Owner-occupied dwellings: estimated rentals used; CPI collects rents from a fixed sample of households. - Production for own-final consumption valued at market prices. - Elementary indices based on ratio of average prices with base prices referring to 1994 annual average prices. - Laspeyres formula used for aggregation with weights from 1994. - New index with year 2000 weights is being calculated and will be published for the October index. - An annual overlap period is used to link different base year indices to produce long time series. - Shortcomings: - Treatment of quality changes, missing prices, and new goods is not on a par with standards. - Missing prices are carried forward; if item missing for more than three months, a close replacement is sought. - Generally no quality adjustments at time of replacements; new goods are not added to the basket within the five-year index period except replacements for permanently unavailable items. - For seasonal goods the latest available price is carried forward. - Seasonally adjusted CPI published five days after unadjusted index uses a built-in X11 procedure computed at the central office; seasonally adjusted series calculated only for the National Capital Region (NCR) and the “rest of the country.” - Other procedures: - For some commodities (cars, other motor vehicles, package tours) no actual price collection is conducted though weights included; excluded items are about one percent of total expenditure. - For owner-occupied housing, regular rental prices from a monthly survey of fixed residential units are used in parallel with real rental expenditure. - Assessment and validation of source data (3.3) - Sampling error information is collected for the FIES; potential nonsampling errors acknowledged but no estimates of their effect produced. - For price collection, nonresponse or misreporting not seen as a problem; price collectors urged to maintain predescribed accuracy and alert offices to unexpected changes. - Initial processing includes validation steps; price changes over 15 percent are verified with respondent. - Prices checked against other stores’ prices; average commodity prices calculated and examined at provincial level. - Assessment and validation of intermediate data and outputs (3.4) - Validation procedures: - Review of reasonableness and completeness compares current outlet price and current average price of a commodity with previous month's outlet price and previous month's average price. - Average commodity prices compared to previous month’s prices. - For some items, such as gasoline, price changes are compared to other sources and those of NCR. - Limitations: - CPI is not continuously compared to other indices; sources of validation data are not sought; information on potential differences and market evolution is not sought. - Investigation of discrepancies: - Open issues from validation brought to regional or central offices for investigation. - Reasonability checks done at provincial and central office levels; regional commodity group indices compared and changes investigated; staff contact field staff or seek explanations elsewhere when questions arise. - Revision studies (3.5) - No revision studies are made for the revised monthly index. - At time of base year change, new and old weighting schemes and market baskets are compared. *Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2004/_cr04281.pdf* ### 4. Serviceability ### 4. Serviceability ### 4.1 Relevance - The CPI is well established among users and is supported by the Users’ Survey conducted for all datasets. - The NSCB executive board includes representation from private sector users and all major governmental users; the TCP includes representatives from academia and ministries. - NSO does not conduct CPI-specific user surveys but broadly monitors statistics use and users’ needs through a general quarterly users’ survey; results are discussed between management and departments. - Senior staff participate in international meetings (example: a workshop on finalizing the draft of the international CPI manual in Singapore in 2001). ### 4.2 Timeliness and periodicity - Timeliness - Monthly estimates are disseminated within one month after the reference period. - Seasonally adjusted series are published five days later than the unadjusted CPI, still within the one-month period. - The new CPI series is to be released parallel with the current index for October 2003 coming out in November. - Simultaneously, the index is published from January 2000 onward. - Periodicity - Periodicity of the CPI is monthly. ### 4.3 Consistency - Internal consistency - The all-items CPI is calculated from regional subindices using the Laspeyres formula. - Time consistency - Long time series are provided in some publications and on the NSO website. - Consecutive base year series are linked and linking factors for different series are provided. - Consistency with other datasets - The CPI is consistent with the national accounts and used in deflating the household final expenditure. ### 4.4 Revision policy and practice - Revision frequency and magnitude - Current CPI data are generally preliminary; the data are not considered final. - During the last two years, the all-item index has been revised only four times, usually by one tenth of a percentage point for annual change. - Revision triggers and scope - Revisions are made if unavailable data from a province are received or source data are later revised. - If completing the source data does not change the national index, no revisions are made. - The policy may lead to revisions of historic data over periods of several months. - Example: when an increased electricity charge was later overruled by local administration and customers compensated for overpayments, the revision was made for data going back for almost nine years (special case). - Identification and transparency - Data are not marked as preliminary, since the revision policy allows NSO to revise the index as far back as necessary. - All revisions made in the data are clearly marked and referenced. - No monthly revision studies are made public. - During major revisions (e.g., in conjunction with change of base year), technical notes are published explaining possible changes in methodology, including changes in weights and market baskets and comparison of inflation rates from the two series. ### 5. Accessibility (included in supplied content) - Presentation and interpretability - The CPI press release, Summary Inflation Report, includes a table of monthly and 12-month changes in the all-item index, major contributors to the all-item index, highlights by region and commodity group, and a chart of year-on-year index changes for the current and previous year; several detailed tables are provided at the end. - Dissemination media and formats - Data are published as a press release, personally picked up by representatives of major international wire agencies or sent by timed e-mail and fax to local news media, market participants, and government agencies. - One half hour later, the same release is published on the NSO website. - Paper copies are available at the NSO central office and later in regional offices. - Telephone is also a main dissemination format. - Later, part of the data are also published in the NSO Monthly Bulletin of Statistics and in the statistical yearbook. - A one-page summary “Quickstat” is published as a collection of the most requested statistics. - Release schedule and equal access - A release calendar is published on the NSO and NSCB websites and is strictly followed. - The press release is made available to everyone at the same time. - Special tabulations and access to subaggregates - Special tabulations, complying with data confidentiality rules, are available for a nominal fee from the NSO. - Provincial data are available by request from the central or regional offices. - The Institute for Development in Econometric Analysis, a nonprofit research organization connected with the University of the Philippines, uses more detailed series in a joint venture with the NSO. - Metadata accessibility - Technical notes on the CPI are published on the NSO website and on the SDDS summary methodology page. - Metadata cover essentials in methodology and classification, but fall short in reflecting national practices against international standards and providing detailed information on source data methodology. - Detail levels and user-specific indices - The overall CPI is calculated from independent regional series; geographical detail is good. - Published detail by commodity group meets the needs of most users; the most requested figure is the all-item index. - NSO is taking over calculation of the core inflation index from the BSP. - NSO calculates, mostly for internal use at this stage, an index corresponding with the consumption expenditures of the lowest (30 percent of Filipinos), and an indicator for price changes for foreigners living in the NCR. - Assistance to users - Names of actual contact persons are not included in the press release but can be found on the SDDS website. - General telephone and e-mail addresses for inquiries are clearly marked and provided in all publications and on the NSO website. - Information on the CPI is also provided through the NSCB website and its one-stop statistical service center. - Catalogues and ordering information - A catalog of publications and a pricing list are available. - The NSO library provides copies to other public libraries and regional offices. - The NSO website provides information on purchasing publications; some publications list other available publications. *Source: _cr04281 - 4. Serviceability* ### 0.3 Quality awareness ### 0.3 Quality awareness ### Processes to focus on quality - NSO management is strongly committed to focusing on data quality; the mission statement "concentrates on providing quality statistics" and is found on all publications and around the offices. - Recent activities: - A quarterly regional conference of directors was conducted on data quality. - The current development plan, in-progress, puts forward further quality improvement. - Recognitions: - NSO was the first government agency to receive the Philippine Quality Award in 1999. - Last year, it was awarded an e-government award for its e-census project. - Staff development: - The Human Resource Management Division operates a comprehensive four-month training program for qualified NSO employees. - October is designated National Statistics Month, during which papers are presented and an awareness of the use of statistics is emphasized. - A Memorandum of Agreement was signed with the Institute for Development and Econometric Analysis (IDEA) to train selected NSO personnel in economic, statistics, and other techniques. ### Processes to monitor collection, processing, and dissemination quality - Validation and supervision: - NSO has manual validation stages of data collection and PPI compilation. - Regional offices supervise provincial price collection and bring problems to the central office. - Major surveys, such as annual establishment surveys, include comprehensive validation processes, approved by the NSCB. - Institutional review: - NSCB operates the Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System (SSRCS) to evaluate designs and instruments of statistical surveys conducted by government agencies. - A self-assessment of nine statistical agencies was conducted, presented, and published in the latest Conference on Development Statistics (held every two years). - Incentives and feedback: - Field Award System for NSO field offices recognizes overall quality and grades field offices on timeliness and quality. - NSO conducts a quarterly customer satisfaction survey. - For all new statistical series planned for publication, NSO organizes consultative forums for data users and respondents to discuss methods. ### Processes to handle quality tradeoffs and guide planning - User engagement: - Technical Committee on Price Statistics evaluates potential needs for improving quality. - Major users of price data are represented on the NSCB executive board, technical committees, and task forces. - For new statistical series, the Users’ Forum, a seminar for government and private sector data users, is held. - Methodological experimentation: - NSO has implemented less-detailed pilot surveys to investigate trade-offs between timeliness and accuracy. - NSO is implementing electronic questionnaires. ### Integrity — Professionalism - Legal and cultural foundations: - Executive Order No. 121 sets the ground for the independence of the statistical system. - NSO is guided by the principles of truth and professional integrity; management promotes a culture of professionalism through training and coordination within the PSS. - Staffing and incentives: - Each position has qualification standards set by the Civil Service Commission. - Staff are encouraged to present papers in conferences and other occasions. - IDEA organizes lectures for NSO staff in return for research access to more detailed but nonidentifiable data. - Professional practice: - Choices of sources and techniques are based solely on statistical considerations; "No deviations from this principle were found." - NSO regularly monitors newspapers and comments on erroneous reporting; summary methodologies and formulas are published to prevent misunderstandings. ### Integrity — Transparency - Legal terms and documentation: - Summaries of laws are posted on the NSCB website; full texts available upon request from NSO and NSCB. - All NSO publications outline legal terms or indicate where more information can be found. - Pre-release access: - A copy of the PPI monthly report and accompanying press release is hand-delivered, under seal, to the Director General of the NEDA and the Director of Department of Trade and Industry one day prior to release, for information not approval; disclosed only on the SDDS website. - Product identification: - MISSI press release, including the PPI, and monthly, quarterly, and annual publications include NSO logos and name; attribution is requested for references. - Advance notice of changes: - An advance calendar is posted on NSO and NSCB websites; press releases are issued in advance for monthly schedules including the PPI. - Changes in methodology, weight data, or base year are first discussed at Technical Committee meetings and indicated by press release. - Methodology changes typically occur at the time of base year and weight change and happen relatively predictably about every five years. ### Integrity — Ethical standards - Codes and awareness: - Core values are posted in internal memos and some publications; mission statement emphasizes integrity, objectivity, and professionalism. - New staff are made aware of objectives in orientation and reminded periodically by management. - Obligations of NSO and staff from legislation are emphasized to informants and users; the Office of the Administrator circulates general codes of conduct in memoranda. ### Methodological soundness — Concepts and definitions - Structure and indicators: - Philippine PPI is part of a group of industry output indicators in the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI). - It consists of four main indicators—Value of Production Index, Producer’s Price Index, Volume of Production Index, and Index of Capacity Utilization—and covers 20 major manufacturing industries. - Classification and weights: - Industries in the PPI follow the 1994 Philippine Standard Industry Classification (PSIC), derived from ISIC Rev. 3. - Main weight source for the 2003 PPI is the 1998 Annual Survey of Establishments (ASE 98, currently called Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry). - Weighting value includes interplant transfers at market price, direct and indirect exports, and value of other products and by-products sold by establishments. - Price collection details: - Specified items are collected; transaction-specific characteristics are not generally included. Unit of measurement and brand names are collected on top of general specifications. ### Methodological soundness — Scope and classification - Scope: - PPI broadly covers only manufacturing activities (industries 15–36 in ISIC Rev. 3); core mining activities excluded. - Scope includes same activities covered in ASE 98 for the manufacturing sector—all resident market enterprises, including exports. - Differences from the production concept are not explicitly reported but are noted in technical notes and discussed in the Technical Committee on Survey Design (TCS). - Classification: - 1993 SNA used to classify institutional units; PSIC used at the four-digit level. - Commodities in the index basket are selected on a company basis; no detailed product classification is used. ### Methodological soundness — Basis for recording - Valuation: - Sales weights are valued at producer prices, ex factory prices including any indirect taxes, or subsidies. - Use of unit prices and lack of transaction specifications may reduce data quality in some cases. - Recording: - Sales data used for index weights correspond to producer price values at the year goods were sold; ASE recoding may refer to a company's fiscal year, believed to be a small share. - Aggregation: - Philippine PPI is not constructed by stage of processing. ### Accuracy and Reliability — Source data - Sampling frames and updating: - A continuously updated list of enterprises is used for the annual establishment survey frame; an updating system, Updating of the List of Establishments (ULE), is being implemented. - ULE collects data from field office reports of deaths and births of establishments and from ongoing annual and quarterly surveys. - ASE coverage and response: - For ASE 98 (latest completed annual survey for manufacturing), industry coverage is good. - Almost 5,000 establishments were surveyed in regional (three-digit) industry and employment size strata with an overall response rate of 86 percent. - More than 1,000 small establishments were included. - Weight distribution sources: - Current index uses more detailed data from the 1992 census to distribute three-digit data to the four-digit level; weight distribution at the most detailed level refers to year 1992, and more aggregated industry distribution refers to 1998. - Monthly price collection: - For the monthly price collection of the current index, 271 manufacturing establishments are sampled and a total of 551 goods included. - At the industry level the number of price relatives to derive the subindex is rather small and sensitive to individual establishments’ reporting. - Selection of establishments and products favors reasonable response rates and continuation of data collection over scientific random sampling; small enterprises are not included. - Sectoral considerations: - No special treatment for any individual market fraction; potential need to follow the electronics sector differently or gather more information on price-determining factors for constant quality items. - Philippine PPI has been officially compiled since 1992 and "has not established itself as a leading price indicator." ### Accuracy and Reliability — Timeliness of source data - Weights timeliness: - Source data for index weights do not allow timely updates; it usually takes almost three years after the reference year to have data from ASE available. - PPI weights have not been updated since 2001 because results from the 1999 Census have still not become available. - Although "80 percent of the data are received within six months after the reference year," it takes at least another year and a half to process forms and get estimates. - NSO has taken steps to speed up collection and compilation: a streamlined, more respondent-friendly annual survey and an electronic survey for MISSI indicators are being developed. - Price collection timeliness: - Prices are generally collected between the 10th and 30th day of each month. - In some cases it takes more than eight weeks after the reference period to record prices. - Usually more than 80 percent of the data are received before the release date of two months after the reference period; actual calculation of the index needs only a few days to finalize. ### Accuracy and Reliability — Statistical techniques - Elementary index calculation: - Elementary indices are calculated at the four-digit industrial activity level and aggregated to three- and one-digit levels. - The elementary index is calculated as an arithmetic average of some five individual price relatives. - Metadata refer to the Paasche aggregation formula, but latest annual "current" weights for the 1994 base year index are from 1998, used together with monthly price relatives from two consecutive months. - The reference year for prices is 1994; price changes at the elementary aggregate level are chained from month to month. - Calculation chains the month-to-month price relative with the latest available period’s revenues as "current" weights using a reciprocal formula; at the turn of the year the December-to-January average price relative is chained to the December index using new revenue weights, if available. - Weight updates and basket renewal: - Weights are updated at the beginning of every year provided ASE or CE is completed; for the current index weights have been updated only twice as of 2003. - New goods are added if staff consider they have gained significant market share at time of weight updates. - Market basket is completely renewed about every five years when a new base year is put in place. - Treatment of missing prices and quality adjustments: - Policy of not changing the market basket during a calendar year and carrying latest values forward for missing prices until they reappear or are dropped at year-end may not adequately capture overall price change. - No quality adjustments are made since there are no direct substitutions; initial selection criteria aim to choose commodities found on the market as long as possible. - Other procedures: - Transaction specifications for price observations are not collected and may hinder comparability in time. - Some industries may need special treatment to better capture real price change. ### Accuracy and Reliability — Assessment and validation of source data - Routine assessment: - For ASE weight data, sampling error estimates are available and monitored. - Field validation practices: - Price collectors are encouraged to discuss acute issues with respondents; all missing prices and large price changes are double-checked. - Shuttle-type layout of the price collection form facilitates finding erroneous and suspect prices. - Central office coordinates follow-ups in the Metro Manila area; field offices investigate suspect reporting. *Source: _cr04281 - 0.3 Quality awareness* ### 3.4 Assessment and validation of intermediate data and statistical outputs ### 3.4 Assessment and validation of intermediate data and statistical outputs ### Validation of intermediate data - For petroleum prices, consistency of the PPI results is reflected in other sources. - Reasonability of individual industry series is examined against common knowledge of individual markets. - Wholesale price index data on product groupings could be available but are not used to compare to the industry-based PPI. - Other sources for validating the data could be sought as well. ### Investigation of statistical discrepancies in intermediate data - Unexpected industry movements and company-specific price changes in the series are investigated. - Due to the simple structure of the PPI for manufacturing, no discrepancies have arisen. ### Investigation of statistical discrepancies and indicators of problems in outputs - The Administrator is provided with a written brief on the reasons for major changes in the series for specific industries. *3.5 Revision studies* ### Revision studies and analyses - No real revision studies are conducted. - At the time of the change in the base year, the NSO publishes technical notes on the revision. ### 4 Serviceability ### 4.1 Relevance - The TCS Design includes users and discusses the needs of current programs. - The PPI is on the committee’s agenda but has not been a major topic in its work. - PPI is usually discussed together with other MISSI indicators. - Users are encouraged to contact the NSO with their questions. - Largely due to the small size of the PPI program, no formal processes to monitor users’ needs are in place. - A general quarterly users’ survey is conducted, and its results discussed with management. - PPI staff have participated in international meetings and training offered by international institutions and national statistical agencies, such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. ### 4.2 Timeliness and periodicity - PPI estimates are disseminated within two months after the end of reference period. This does not meet the SDDS requirements. - Periodicity of PPI estimates is monthly. ### 4.3 Consistency - 4.3.1 Internal consistency: Statistics are internally consistent, since only one-dimensional aggregation takes place. - 4.3.2 Consistency over time: - Historical series are not readily linked together; data for every base-year cycle are presented alone. - Sometimes no one continuous series covers a period of five years, although the policy is to publish two series based on different base years overlapping for six months. - Current series with the base year 1994 were first published in 2001, including data from 1998 forward. - The previous series with the base-year 1992 was carried until year 2001. - The staff advises users on linking consecutive series together, if requested. - 4.3.3 Consistency with other data sources/frameworks: - Classifications used in the PPI are, to the extent that the industrial activity classification is the same, reconcilable with national accounts data. - The PPI industry series are used to derive the implicit deflators, but the level of necessary detail needed by the national accounts is not met. - Production of goods for export is included only within the aggregate index. - More technical level cooperation with statistics-producing agencies would possibly allow wider use of the PPI data. ### 4.4 Revision policy and practice - 4.4.1 Revisions schedule and practice: - An informal revision policy for the MISSI indicators indicates all data as preliminary when first published. - The estimates for missing data are usually data from the previous month. - When price data are received late from the respondents during the two following months, these data are added to the calculation, and possible changes in the index are reported in the next press release. - The main need for revision comes from including missing price reports. - Revision policy, although simple and known to some users, is not made explicit. - 4.4.2 Preliminary data identification: - Data are quoted as preliminary for all MISSI series. - All revisions made in the data are clearly marked and referenced. - 4.4.3 Studies and analyses of revisions made public: - No revision studies are made. - The direction and magnitude resulting from revisions are not analyzed, though they may be found by comparing previous press releases. ### 5 Accessibility ### 5.1 Data accessibility - 5.1.1 Presentation and interpretability: - Together with other short-term statistics, the PPI is published in the monthly press release of the MISSI. - The main body briefly describes the change in the all-manufacturing sector and the main upward and downward contributing industries. - A chart of index movements in the previous and current year is provided. - More detailed industry-specific tables of month-to-month and year-to-year changes are provided at the end. - Two different levels of aggregation are included. - No seasonally adjusted series are calculated. - 5.1.2 Dissemination media and formats: - Data are published as a press release and personally picked up by representatives of major international wire agencies or sent by timed e-mail and fax to local news media, market participants, and government agencies. - One half hour later, the same release is published on the NSO website. - Paper copies are available at the NSO central office and later in the regional offices. - The telephone is also a main dissemination format. - Later, part of the data are also published in NSO Monthly Bulletin of Statistics and in the statistical yearbook. - A collection of the most requested statistics is also published as “Quickstat,” the one-page summary of the latest data on the Philippine socioeconomic indicators. - The data are also published on other government agencies’ websites, such as NSCB, NEDA, and PSB. - 5.1.3 Pre-announced schedule: - A release calendar is published on the NSO and NSCB websites, and a press release is issued. - The calendar is strictly followed. - 5.1.4 Simultaneous availability: - The press release is made available to everyone at the same time. - 5.1.5 Nonpublished subaggregates on request: - Series at the four-digit industry level are sometimes provided if allowed by confidentiality policy, to researchers when requested. - These cases are negotiated individually, since this is also the elementary index level. - The Institute for Development in Econometric Analysis, a nonprofit research organization connected with the University of the Philippines, uses more detailed MISSI series in a joint venture with the NSO. ### 5.2 Metadata accessibility - 5.2.1 Documentation availability: - Documentation on index methods and compilation is published on the NSO website as technical notes. - A paper version is published. - These data are brief and do not include, for example, the latest industry weights. - If requested, the NSO may give additional information. - The division responsible for the PPI maintains the SDDS summary methodologies. - 5.2.2 Levels of detail adapted to audience: - Generally, the level of detail in all MISSI indicators has been found adequate by users. - Some requests for commodity series are received. ### 5.3 Assistance to users - 5.3.1 Contact persons: - Actual contact persons are not included in the press release but can be found on the SDDS website. - General telephone and e-mail addresses for inquiries are clearly marked and provided in all publications and on the NSO website. - MISSI information is also provided through NSCB’s one-stop statistical service center. - 5.3.2 Catalog of publications and charges: - A catalog of publications and a pricing list are available. - The NSO library provides copies to other public libraries and regional offices. - The NSO website informs users about purchasing the publications. - Some publications also list all other available publications. ### Key assessment summary excerpts (Table 3 highlights) - Resources: "More overall resources needed to improve the quality." - 3.1 Source data: "Price data are insufficient. Selection methods of establishments and products in price survey not in par with best practices. Data are not timely." - 3.2 Statistical techniques: "Treatment of quality adjustment, missing prices and new goods needs improvement." - 3.4 Assessment and validation of intermediate data and statistical outputs: "Other data sources not used extensively to investigate potential problems in the PPI data." - 3.5 Revision studies: "No studies for monthly revisions done." - 4.1 Relevance: "PPI specific users’ needs not monitored." - 4.2 Timeliness and periodicity: "Timeliness does not meet the SDDS requirements." - 4.3 Consistency: "No long time series are provided." - 4.4 Revision policy and practice: "Revision policy is not publicized and information on revision not made available." *Source: _cr04281 - 3.4 Assessment and validation of intermediate data and statistical outputs (Producer Price Index).* ### 0.3 Quality awareness ### _cr04281 - 0.3 Quality awareness ### 0.3.1 Processes are in place to focus on quality - Recognition exists in two DOF fiscal data compilation units that "quality in fiscal data is the cornerstone of statistical work." - Calls for processes to focus on quality are not documented. - The extent to which these processes are routinely addressed was not evident. ### 0.3.2 Processes are in place to monitor the quality of the collection, processing, and dissemination of statistics - Accounting and auditing systems for general government embed checks to help ensure quality of fiscal data. - Accounting data are used to compile preliminary fiscal data; audited data are used to compile final data. - Fiscal data are collected in accord with the Philippine Government Accounting and Auditing Manual. - International statistical standards, including GFSM 1986, have been taken into account in past planning for improvements to statistical quality. - Evidence exists of patterning accounts after the International Accounting Standards for accounts and auditing; no evidence of specific use of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). - Fiscal data are audited by the Commission on Audit (COA) against generally accepted auditing standards (example: COA Annual Audit Report on the BTr for 2002 and on the GSIS for 2002). - Audited reports periodically contain serious disclosures questioning the quality of underlying accounting data (example: COA report on the BTr for 2002). - No documented evidence was observed that processes are in place to ensure such COA disclosures are fully accounted for in subsequent revisions and audits and in subsequent revisions of fiscal statistics. - Audited reports cover balance sheets and transaction statements but have analytical presentations and time series not transparently linked to fiscal data released prior to the audits. - DOF professional staff regard quality of data collection, compilation, and dissemination as second nature. - The DOF website is available to obtain feedback from GFS users. ### 0.3.3 Processes are in place to deal with quality considerations, including tradeoffs within quality, and to guide planning for existing and emerging needs - Trade-offs between quality and other considerations, such as timeliness, are well understood but are not communicated to users. - Limited areas where trade-offs have been relevant reduce the need for communication; focus is on obtaining high-quality transaction data in final form on a timely basis. - Quality is taken into account in statistical planning, reflected in several recent COA revisions to the national chart of accounts, including reclassifications prescribed under the New Government Accounting System (NGAS), mandated to apply to all government activities. - The NGAS new norms do not fully conform to international statistical guidelines. - No further evidence that quality considerations guide plans for existing and emerging GFS needs. *The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) issues a Handbook of International Public Sector Accounting Standards, which contains the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), as developed by the IFAC Public Sector Committee (PSC).* ### 1. Integrity #### 1.1 Professionalism - 1.1.1 Statistics are compiled on an impartial basis - No specific laws establish professional independence of the department compiling GFS; informal safeguards help ensure independence. - Compilers use COA-audited data to compile final annual statistics on government activities. - COA commissioners are appointed by the President and are independent of the DOF; COA prescribes the classification system for all general government stocks and flows. - BTr does not typically review DOF FPPO data; FPPO has not typically reviewed BTr compiled data—implying impartial compilation procedures. - Reasonable efforts to promote professionalism through seminars and training. - Little evidence of analytical work or staff publication of methodological papers. - 1.1.2 Choices of sources and statistical techniques are informed solely by statistical considerations - No evidence of political influence on choice of sources and methods for compiling GFS. - BTr uses BTr accounting data on budgetary central government for national government data. - Accounting data are available on autonomous agencies, the Central Bank Board of Liquidators (CBBOL), and the Oil Stabilization Fund, but much of these data are not included in disseminated public sector operations data. - FPPO uses above-the-line data on GSIS, social security funds, DOF Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) information from local treasuries, profit information on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), and DOF Corporate Affairs Group information on Government Financial Institutions (GFIs) and 14 major nonfinancial Government-owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs). - 1.1.3 The appropriate statistical entity is entitled to comment on erroneous interpretation and misuse of statistics - BTr and DOF FPPO compilers can advise on technical aspects of GFS, often via emails answering queries on the SDDS website. - Compilers are permitted to publicly respond to misinterpretations of fiscal data. - Explanatory material is not routinely provided in press releases but is available upon request (e.g., to the press). #### 1.2 Transparency - 1.2.1 Terms and conditions under which statistics are collected, processed, and disseminated are available to the public - Executive orders related to GFS compilation are available to the public (example: Executive Order No. 449 described in the BTr 2002 Annual Report). - Insufficient emphasis on transparency, including terms and conditions of data collection, processing, and dissemination. - Restrictions on public access to fiscal data (largely supporting details) are not identified and made public. - 1.2.2 Internal governmental access to statistics prior to their release is publicly identified - Special arrangements for noncompiling government officials to access significant releases are identified and made public (on the SDDS site). - Selected data on public sector operations are available within DOF for three days prior to public release. - Data on BTr national government are available within DOF for one day prior to public release. - BTr data on national government debt are available within DOF for one day prior to public release. - The Cash Operations Report of national government on a weekly basis, made periodically available for the DOF Secretary, is not released to the public; this availability and release policy is not identified and made public. - Approval processes for publication of GFS are not made public; DOF judges the approval process implicit and widely understood, particularly where the DOF Secretary releases the data. - 1.2.3 Products of statistical agencies/units are clearly identified as such - Statistical publications clearly identify the data-producing agency responsible. - Major dissemination includes DOF BTr monthly summary Cash Operations Report, BTr Annual Report, and annual DOF Statistical Bulletin. - Statistical products on websites identify contacts and responsible agencies. - 1.2.4 Advance notice is given of major changes in methodology, source data, and statistical techniques - Notice has not been given in preceding GFS publications or special publications directed to the same audience regarding methodological, classification, or basis-of-reporting changes that may materially affect published data. - Changes that cause a break in the time series have been or are being identified in the same publications where the series breaks were first introduced. - Concurrent release practice expected to be exhibited in a section on local governments in the 2003 release of the DOF Statistical Bulletin for Local Governments. - Authorities indicated plans to give advance notices for significant changes in methodology or basis-of-reporting for public sector transactions (e.g., shifts from cash to modified accrual basis) along the migration path toward implementing GFSM 2001 methodology. #### 1.3 Ethical standards - 1.3.1 Guidelines for staff behavior are in place and are well known to the staff - Staff behavior is consistent with high ethical standards. - A published "code of conduct" requires data be compiled and results presented according to strictly professional considerations. - Not all DOF officials compiling fiscal data were aware of the Act Establishing a Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees. - No known sanctions have been applied implying adherence to the code where it is breached. - BTr holds periodic workshops on conduct guidelines in line with Republic Act 6713. - Evidence exists that experienced staff compiling fiscal data have high ethical standards. ### 2. Methodological Soundness #### 2.1 Concepts and definitions - 2.1.1 The overall structure in terms of concepts and definitions follows internationally accepted standards, guidelines, or good practices - Overall structure of nationally reported fiscal data follows internationally accepted standards, but some specific aggregates are not treated according to the IMF's A Manual on Government Finance Statistics (GFSM 1986). - Example: national revenue concept covers privatization receipts and grants and thus is not presented according to international statistical conventions. - Links exist between national time series and GFSM 1986 framework, but some linkages to GFSM 1986-identified aggregates for some government subsectors are not transparent. - No documented bridge table links nationally reported aggregates for subsectors to those in GFSM 1986. - No migration path has been identified, accepted, or documented for implementing GFSM 2001 methodology in nationally appropriate stages over time. - Mission emphasized GFSM 2001 calls for compiling comprehensive and integrated stock and flow data, including balance sheet and holding gain data, and recommended documenting a migration path (one stage would typically include establishment of a balance sheet). - COA included in its Annual Financial Report with 2001 data the full balance sheet of the national government, including valuation of public corporation equities and nonfinancial assets (based on historical costs). - In 2001 the process began for reporting transaction data, including interest data, on an accrual basis; precise use and timing were not documented. - National reporting includes government guarantees of domestic and foreign obligations as memorandum items. #### 2.2 Scope - 2.2.1 The scope is broadly consistent with internationally accepted standards, guidelines, or good practices - Selected annual transaction reporting (on the BTr website) covers incomplete aspects (focus on the deficit) of the public sector, which is broader than the typical coverage of the general government. - Annual source data are identified and available on transactions and stock holdings among budgetary units, extrabudgetary units, social security units, and local government units, enabling potential consolidation of stock and flow data on general government. - Most transaction and stock position data between public sector subsectors were found available, permitting potential consolidation with more detailed classifications. - No comprehensive statistics available on consolidated transactions or balances of central or general governments. - Transaction data on the public sector were not comprehensive or complete. - Authorities envision comprehensive reporting in the near term. - Provisional annual fiscal data are replaced by final data as soon as practicable; all audited data are used in compiling final data. - Audited annual national government data have been made available within one or two quarters of the end of the reported period. - No supplementary data on quasi-fiscal activity are provided; such activity is not likely to be significant given past substantial quasi-fiscal activity in the early 1990s and central bank restructuring. - For future planning, authorities indicated they would take into account GFSM 2001 methodology in harmony with SNA 1993, Balance of Payments Manual, fifth edition, and Monetary and Financial Statistics Manual 2000. - GFSM 2001 methodology covers integrated stocks and flows as specified in GFSM 2001 tables: - Classification of Revenue (Table 1, GFSM 2001); - Economic Classification of Expense (Table 2); - Classification of Transactions in Assets and Liabilities (Table 3); - Classification of Outlays by Functions of Government (Table 4); - Classification of Transactions in Financial Assets and Liabilities by Sector (Table 5); - Stocks and Flows of Specific General Government Subsectors (Table 6); - Statement of Sources and Uses of Cash. #### 2.3 Classification/sectorization - 2.3.1 Classification/sectorization systems used are broadly consistent with internationally accepted standards, guidelines, or good practices - Institutional sectors are defined in accordance with the 1993 SNA, GFSM 1986, and GFSM 2001, but sectoral descriptions are not fully identified and government subsectors for which GFS are produced are not defined according to these methodologies. - Units in central government or general government and the extent of coverage in reported data are not precisely identified. - BTr 2002 Annual Report has substantial transaction data on national government but does not identify which institutional units are included (coverage evidently is the budgetary central government) or precisely how coverage differs from central government. - On BTr and DOF websites, transactions of specific extrabudgetary funds (including GSIS) and social security schemes were not fully identified as part of central government transactions. - Revenue often not reported according to economic classifications and includes grants and privatization receipts in national reporting; expenditure includes net lending in national reporting; financing items for the national government are reported in the BTr 2002 Annual Report with details largely in line with GFSM 1986. - Financing data have erroneously included government purchases of securities issued by the National Power Corporation instead of properly treating them as lending minus repayments. - Debt data identify foreign and domestic debt, but details are not typically available on instruments of debt. - Aggregated public sector transaction data on the DOF website: revenue and expenditure data covered different public sector units than financing data, producing mismatches (reported 2002 deficit differed substantially from financing data). - Aggregated public sector data included CBP data only on its profits. - Separate data on the general government and the public financial and nonfinancial institutions were not available. *Source: _cr04281 - 0.3 Quality awareness (PDF chapter/section).* ### 2.4 Basis for recording ### 2.4 Basis for recording ### Market valuation and exchange rates - Transactions of government are recorded on a current market value basis. - Outstanding debt data of the national government are available, according to authorities, on the basis of the amount due on maturity, thus conforming with the GFSM 1986 methodology. - Debt data based on market prices would conform with the GFSM 2001 methodology. - Transactions in foreign currency are converted to pesos using the exchange rate prevailing in the market at the moment they take place. - Outstanding balances denominated in foreign exchange are valued at the exchange rates on the reporting date for the balance sheet. ### Accrual vs cash recording - BTr recorded transactions of government through 2000 on a cash basis, in accordance with the GFSM 1986. - The COA issued instructions for all general government units to adopt the modified accrual basis of accounting (as well as summary data on a cash basis), and the national government began to establish this policy in 2001. - Local governments have been instructed to report quarterly data on a cash basis and on an accrual basis. - No documentation on the arrangements for, or the timing of, fully implementing accrual accounting data for all of general government has been made available. - The available descriptions of the modified accrual basis of accounting conforms closely to the accrual accounting outlined in the GFSM 2001 methodology. - The extent to which existing fiscal data, for various parts of the Philippine public sector, is reported on an accrual basis is not fully documented. - There is no reporting of arrangements being made to convert from a cash to an accrual basis where cash or mixed recording is used. - International reporting for the GFS Yearbook from 2003 will include reporting on both an accrual and a cash basis (noting that compilers with only cash records would simply not have an entry for accrual categories such as consumption of fixed capital). - While pension obligations to government employees are identified as liabilities according to the GFSM 2001 methodology, no evidence appeared of accrual accounting or actuarial data consistent with appropriately compiled transaction data for this government fund. - Note: The Annual Audit Report on the GSIS for 2002 seems to imply pension obligations have been recognized as government liabilities; however, identification of liabilities as the amount of obligations for which resources on the GSIS balance sheet are available is not consistent with GFSM 2001. The proper amount to be recognized as liabilities is the full amount of the obligations based solely on the defined benefits, the actuarial tables, and the market discount rate; to the extent that assets do not match liabilities, the net worth of the GSIS would be identified as a negative entry. (Note 12 on the balance sheet implies a GSIS 2002 shortfall in liability reporting of 26 billion pesos.) ### Grossing/netting conventions - All transactions are shown gross, except as appropriate for borrowing and amortization transactions. - Certain corrective transactions (e.g., refunds of taxation) are properly netted against the original transactions. --- ### 3 Accuracy and Reliability ### 3.1 Source data - Substantial source data for GFS are available, but they have not been adequately utilized to compile the full range of consolidated stock and flow statistics on central or general governments or the full public sector in accord with the GFSM 1986 or the GFSM 2001. - No documented procedures are in place to assure that audit findings on national or other government data are taken fully into account and that only the most accurate and reliable data sources are used. - The mission found no documentation of procedures to allow estimation of missing data, although some estimation procedures for local government operations were in place. - Authorities have documented plans to collect timely quarterly transaction data on all local governments (see BLGF’s A Manual on the Statement of Income and Expenditures for Local Government Units, including BLGF Memorandum Circular No. 01-2003, mandating the collection of quarterly data on revenue and expenditure by economic type and by function). - The authorities see no basis for resorting to sampling techniques, even though complete local government reporting of quarterly data is not yet evident. - No documentation on the planned collection of data on local government stocks or holding gains has been provided. - Fiscal data on the major 14 nonfinancial GOCCs, representing roughly 70 percent of expenses of the roughly 90 nonfinancial GOCCs, are used as the estimate of the activities of these corporations. ### 3.1.2 Conformity of source data to standards - The government chart of accounts is not sufficiently in line with the classifications in GFSM 1986 or GFSM 2001 to ensure consolidated data can be fully reported in accordance with either methodology. - The chart of accounts revised for 2003 by the COM covers transactions and balance sheet items, but: - Establishing a bridge table fully linking this chart of accounts with GFSM 1986 or GFSM 2001 classifications would be difficult. - Its descriptions do not specifically indicate coverage of nonbudgetary central government activities. - Its use does not permit compilation of: - complete detailed data on net acquisition of financial assets; - complete liability data by instrument or by sector of creditor; - expense data by functional categories closely in line with COFOG; - data on holding gains and other changes in the volume. - Budget management systems do not include provision for the automatic derivation of GFS items from budget items. - One inconsistency: national government source data on expenditure are recorded at the time the expenditure is authorized and funds are allocated to agency accounts, rather than after agencies have taken the funds or received goods and services. - Information published under financial accountability arrangements has roughly the same scope as GFS and can be reconciled for the most part with GFS. ### 3.1.3 Timeliness of source data - Annual provisional data on selected transactions of the public sector are available within six months of the end of the reference year. - Monthly provisional data on national government transactions are available within three weeks of the end of the reference month. - Provisional summary debt data on the national government are available ten weeks after the reference month (for dissemination under SDDS framework). - Source data on the transactions and debt of the complete central government are available with this timing, permitting dissemination of complete central government data within this same time frame if distributed promptly to compilers. - Final annual transaction and debt data on the national government have been made available within one year of the reference period. - Selected final annual transaction data on most of the public sector have been made available within one and one-half years. ### 3.2 Statistical techniques - Some subpar procedures exist for estimation of missing data; overall need for estimating fiscal data is limited. - Data on 14 major nonfinancial GOCCs are used to represent all roughly 90 nonfinancial GOCCs; data on many of the roughly 90 nonfinancial GOCCs are not available within six months of the annual reference period. - Complete sector data could be estimated using reporting corporations and prior-period data for nonreporting corporations, but current practice uses preliminary annual data on local governments calculated from prior year local government transaction data and GDP growth—this practice is not consistent with best international statistical practices. - No other statistical techniques have been reported for adjusting reporting of fiscal data; absence of such techniques is reflected in mismatches between deficits and financing for the public sector as reported by DOF. - Some adjustments are expected due to missing details in the chart of accounts needed for: - complete translation of nationally reported accounting data to GFSM 1986 or GFSM 2001; - accurate consolidation of quarterly and annual stock and flow statistics across government subsectors. ### 3.3 Assessment and validation of source data - Problems of gaps in coverage of institutions in source data had not been adequately identified and addressed. - The balance between accuracy and timeliness mainly concerns source data, on which the COA has raised significant disclosures (see COA Audit Certificate of March 18, 2003 in the COA Annual Audit Report on the Bureau of the Treasury for 2002). - Example audit disclosures: government cash accounts with 96 billion pesos could not be validated; ledger accounting for claims of 294 billion on GOCCs was not available. - The extent to which revisions of annual data fully address COA disclosures is unclear; no documentation of such procedures is evident. - No statistical procedures appear to be in place to assess the accuracy of accounting data or to ensure statistics are reported from accurate and reliable source data. - Fiscal data are published following a regular cycle: preliminary data are replaced by final audited data. - The status of data used for each period—whether preliminary or final—is not always identified in GFS publications. - All preliminary data are revised when later final data become available. ### 3.4 Assessment and validation of intermediate data and outputs - Major aggregates for fiscal data at any public sector level are not reconciled with corresponding reporting in other macroeconomic statistical areas. - No documentation of reconciliation between fiscal transaction or debt data and statistics on financial institutions, balance of payments, or the national accounts. - Authorities indicated intention to document differences and reconciliations. - Expenditure data by economic type and by function were not demonstrated to have been cross-checked for consistency, but those submitted for the GFS Yearbook have been consistent. - No evidence that differences between GFS financing data and corresponding records of financial institutions have been reconciled; authorities intend to address data differences and work toward reconciliations. ### 3.5 Revision studies - Data revisions take account of all revisions to source data. - Revisions to annual data reflect final data. - Preliminary monthly data, which are never finalized, are periodically revised but revisions are not identified as such. - There is no documentation of data revisions identifying main aspects of preliminary source data, reasons for revisions, or typical direction and magnitude of revisions. - DOF officials have indicated plans to document data revisions, reasons for revisions, typical direction and magnitude of revisions to major aggregates, and to address possible bases for improving quality of reported data. --- ### 4 Serviceability ### 4.1 Relevance - Users of fiscal data include policymakers, analysts, and other domestic and international users. - Monitoring of users’ utility of these data is limited, in part because of multiple sources of fiscal accounting data and lack of a coherent authority to ensure quality of comprehensive GFS. - Available statistical reporting of annual data (as interpreted in DOF Statistical Bulletin, BTr Annual Report, BTr and DOF websites, and GFS Yearbook) is not comprehensive and consolidated for transactions or stocks of either the central government or the general government. - Substantial separate and diverse accounting data for virtually all the public sector are available; available reporting is mainly data on accounts of national government, which do not include transaction and stock data on extrabudgetary funds (including GSIS) or the Social Security System. - Transaction data on local governments are presented substantially differently in the Statistical Bulletin. - The Statistical Bulletin, with detailed 2001 data on the national government, is scheduled to be published almost two years after the reference year and is of limited use for assessing current fiscal policies. - A summary of the Monthly Cash Statement is disseminated in a timely manner and is well received by users; these aggregates permit rough assessments of policy implementation. - Published consolidated transactions of the public sector (in the Republic of the Philippines Budget of Expenditure and Sources of Financing) have shortcomings in consolidation: the table does not cover all financial and nonfinancial corporations and includes only deficit data of extrabudgetary funds and social security agencies. - Primary fiscal policy determination and evaluation are based on aggregated budget outturns on the national government. - Methodological basis, classification structure, and coverage of available fiscal data are not as suitable for analytical needs as properly compiled GFS would be (e.g., inadequate presentation of cash changes and amortization, including of the CBBOL). - The availability of comprehensive data is not largely constrained by absence of accounting data, although a more sufficient chart of accounts would be helpful. - Somewhat adequate annual source data are available on transactions and stock holdings among subsectors of budgetary units, extrabudgetary units, and social security units, potentially enabling consolidation of quarterly data on central government and annual consolidation for general government and public sector. - Authorities envision comprehensive and consolidated reporting in the near term. ### 4.2 Timeliness and periodicity - Timeliness: - Timeliness of monthly central (national) government operations data is within the SDDS-prescribed one month after the reference period. - Timeliness of monthly central (national) government debt data is ten weeks, within the SDDS-prescribed one quarter after the reference period. - For public sector operations, data release follows within the SDDS-prescribed two quarters after the reference period. - Data on main aggregates of annual data do not fully conform with fully aggregated or consolidated data on public sector operations; authorities plan to improve coverage of institutions and transactions of the public sector. - Periodicity: - Consistent with SDDS requirements, the central (national) government operations data are published monthly and annually. - Selected general government operations data are published annually. - Central (national) government debt is published monthly. *Source: _cr04281 - 2.4 Basis for recording* ### 4.3 Consistency ### 4.3 Consistency ### 4.3.1 Statistics are consistent within the dataset - Aggregates of fiscal data in national publications and on official websites are similar for the national government, for transactions and debt. - Public sector (DOF site) deficit and financing data include items that are not consistent because the above-the-line institutional coverage differs from that used to compile financing data. - Authorities indicated steps are being considered to ensure complete and consistent sets of transaction data, including net lending and use of cash balances, are transparently included in all reports of fiscal statistics. - The GFS sent to the IMF for the GFS Yearbook 2002 are mainly consistent with the GFSM 1986 guidelines, which call for: - Deficit/surplus = (-) financing; - Major aggregates consistent—(revenue & grants) less (expenditure & lending minus repayments) = sum of financing, where financing = net borrowing plus reductions in cash balances; - Table B expenditure (by function) = Table C expenditure (by economic type); - Domestic financing consistent (allowing for holding gains) with change in domestic debt; - Foreign financing consistent (allowing for holding gains) with change in foreign debt; - Transfers paid = transfers received between levels/subsectors of government; and - Interest paid in Table B = interest paid in Table C. - GFS compilers introduced in 2003 reporting of GFS to the Fund for the GFS Yearbook on the basis of classifications of the GFSM 2001 methodology, regardless of availability of full balance sheet information, holding gains, accrual accounts, etc. - The Fund provided a bridge table linking the GFSM 1986 classifications with the GFSM 2001 classifications (as provided to the DOF). - Where national account data are not available for certain transactions (e.g., consumption of fixed capital), no reported entries appear for those items. - Compilers are expected to report the precisely identified basis of recording and use the main account data available (possibly a mix of cash and accrual data) for the accrual reporting and the cash data for the summary cash table for the GFS Yearbook. - Additional GFSM-consistency requirements explicitly listed: - The difference between opening and closing balance sheets, for each asset/liability category, equals the sum of transactions, net holding gains and losses, and other changes to the volume of assets for that category. - If consistency as defined above is achieved by deriving any component residually, then an annotation to this effect is published. - Net operating balance less net acquisition of nonfinancial assets equals net lending/borrowing. - Net lending/borrowing, derived from revenue less expenses less net acquisition of nonfinancial assets, equals financing. - Components of revenue, expense, net acquisition of nonfinancial assets, and financing add to aggregates. - Detailed revenue, expense, net acquisition of nonfinancial assets, and financing table data agree with the aggregates in the government operations table. - Transfers paid = transfers received between levels/subsectors of government. - Information on revisions is provided to users. - The sum of GFS aggregates for component levels of government, or other subsectors of GFS, equals aggregates for the consolidated combination of those subsectors, less consolidation adjustments. Note that the net operating balance, net lending/borrowing, change in net worth, and net worth across all subsectors (such as central and local governments) should add to these balances for the inclusive government sector (general government). ### 4.3.2 Statistics are consistent or reconcilable over a reasonable period of time - Divergences from expected trends in revenue and/or expenditure time series are attributed to underlying fiscal policy and/or economic developments. - No previously reported series have been adjusted and identified to account for discontinuities arising from methodological developments or other changes in the statistical system. - No breaks in time series, with explanations, have been significantly used; example: some accrual data introduced in 2001 in some transaction data of national government were not documented or identified in disseminated data. - During the mission, authorities indicated plans to document such changes in the future. - The possibility of migration stages to GFSM 2001—already begun to an extent—was discussed, including the associated need for revising data for significant periods and reporting overlapping data for some period on different bases. ### 4.3.3 Statistics are consistent or reconcilable with those obtained through other data sources and/or statistical frameworks - Reconciliation of fiscal data disseminated by various agencies (DOF FPPO, BTr, and the Commission on Audit) is hampered by differences in coverage, concepts, definitions, and insufficient use of explanatory notes. - No known procedures are in place to ensure fiscal data for central and local governments are harmonized with related national accounts aggregates, such as net lending/borrowing, government consumption, and net acquisition of nonfinancial assets; fiscal data are nevertheless the basis for compiling these national accounts data. - No known procedures are in place to ensure fiscal financing data for national and local governments are harmonized with banking data or balance of payments data. - Banking data are used as sources for government reports on bank financing, but there has been no recent review of consistent use of definitions of government units or of the consistency of monetary and fiscal data reporting. - There are differences in net bank credit according to Treasury and bank data. - Foreign grants and financing transactions in fiscal data and in balance of payments statistics should be harmonized, but there is no evidence these data have been reviewed. - Authorities indicated steps are to be taken to help ensure fiscal data are consistent and reconcilable with national account, monetary and financial, and balance of payments statistics. *Source: _cr04281 - 4.3 Consistency* ### Section 40 of the Act specifies that the BSP should issue an annual report. Such a report is to ### Section 40 of the Act specifies that the BSP should issue an annual report. Such a report is to ### Publication requirements and statistical content - Annual report must include: - A statement of the financial condition of the BSP. - A statistical appendix with the monthly movement of monetary aggregates and their components. - The monthly movement of the accounts of the BSP and the other banks. - All inquiries about monetary data are directed to the DER’s Economic and Financial Monitoring Group. ### Institutional responsibilities and data flows - Department of Economic Research (DER) responsibilities: - Improvements in statistical methodology, data collection, compilation, verification, processing, and dissemination of monetary and financial statistics and balance of payments statistics. - Making the information public. - Economic and Financial Monitoring Group receives data from: - Comptrollership Department. - Treasury Department. - Department of Loans and Credit. - Supervisory Reports and Studies Office (for commercial banks and rural banks). - Supplementary information from various BSP departments. - Special statistical projects use committees or task forces to ensure cooperation across BSP departments. - Specific data compilers: - Lending rates: DER’s Economic and Financial Monitoring Group. - International reserves: Treasury Department. - External data sources used in compilation: - Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (for closed banks). - Securities and Exchange Commission. - Insurance Commission. - Commission of Audit. ### Confidentiality and access - Monetary statistics do not disclose data of individual institutions or transactions. - Legal confidentiality protections: - Republic Act no. 7653, The New Central Bank Act, Sections 23 and 27: forbids publication or disclosure by the BSP of any statistical information having a private and personal nature, except under court order or conditions prescribed by the Monetary Board. - Republic Act no. 1405, Bank Secrecy Law: secures confidentiality of bank deposits. - Internal safeguards: - BSP Employee Handbook: employees held liable for unauthorized disclosure; may face criminal prosecution or administrative action. - Only authorized staff have access to individual-bank data before aggregation; differentiated authorization levels; computers are password protected. ### Legal basis for reporting and enforcement - Section 23 of Republic Act no. 7653: BSP authorized to request and collect information from banks and nonbank financial institutions with quasi-banking functions; authorized to investigate and supervise the accuracy of statistical information and request additional information. - Section 37 of Republic Act no. 7653: BSP entitled to take measures against institutions violating banking laws or failing to comply with reporting requirements. - Penalty for delayed or erroneous reporting: a fine of P1,200 per day. - Assessment that fines "appear to be too small to influence the reporting practices"; repeated misreporting affects examination reports and access to BSP privileges. ### Resources for statistical compilation - Staffing and skills: - DER’s Economic and Financial Monitoring Group total professional staff: 34. - Staff primarily devoted to compilation of monetary statistics: 18. - Employment is competitive; professionals have degrees in economics, banking, statistics, or accounting. - Training opportunities: IMF courses (Monetary and Financial Statistics training), Association of South East Asian Central Banks, Asian Development Bank, University of the Philippines, Statistical Research and Training Center, BSP Institute. - Staff turnover noted as "rather significant" due to internal mobility and reassignments; prior reorganizations moved experienced compilers out of monetary statistics, adversely affecting quality. - Computing and data collection: - Electronic database system: Dbank System. - Most reporting institutions submit returns electronically or by diskettes to the Supervisory Reports and Studies Office for validation. - Rural banks submitting hard copies: 227 rural banks; their data are validated and encoded by the Supervisory Reports and Studies Office. - PC workstation ratios: - Economic and Financial Monitoring Group: 1:1.8 (PC workstations-to-staff). - Entire DER: 1:1.4. - Of total 10 PC workstations assigned to compilers of monetary data, seven computers are high-power stations. - Budgetary and resource considerations: - No other budgetary constraints currently impede data collection and compilation activities. - Budget for statistical activities is lumped with DER operating expenses and capital outlays. - Urgent need to expand resources for compiling monetary and financial statistics in line with expansion of institutional coverage and compilation of flow of fund accounts, as recommended by the new MFSM. ### Efficiency and resource management - DER management practices: - Regular meetings with staff to enhance policy vision and understanding. - Definitions and concepts available via DER Concept Handbook and Selected Philippine Economic Indicators. - Processing aids: AS400-Dbank conversion programs, table templates to extract data from Dbank, validation worksheets. - Budget planning and performance: - BSP budget planning done annually, overseen by the BSP Budget Committee with a Monetary Board adviser. - Special statistical projects funded from BSP contingency accounts. - Staff performance vetted in semester reports; plans to improve measurement of staff performance. - Recommendation: - BSP should focus on dissemination of its own statistics rather than redissemination of other agencies’ data to provide more resources for internal statistical work. ### Quality assurance and methodological governance - Quality focus: - DER mission emphasizes quality, transparency, and adoption of best practices. - Data quality team on monetary and financial statistics created. - Documentation and knowledge teams established to document compilation processes. - DER medium-term working plan includes steps for data improvements aligned with international standards. - Implementation gap: - Some IMF technical assistance recommendations on methodological and compilation improvements have not been fully implemented. - External audits: - Private external auditing firms audit financial statements of commercial banks. - Commission of Audit examines financial statements of the BSP. ### Quality control processes and user engagement - Verification and validation: - DER and other BSP departments verify that reporting practices are consistent with regulations. - Cross-checks of source data and investigation of discrepancies. - Validation procedures include visual, bank-by-bank plausibility assessments. - DER consults reporting institutions to verify possible misclassifications. - User feedback and outreach: - No regular surveys of users; feedback occurs during annual conventions on statistics and ad hoc. - Ad hoc DER committee reviewed statistical tables and reports for detail and relevance. - DER responds, on average, monthly to about five questions related to monetary data in cooperation with other BSP departments. - No regular external body provides guidance on quality; suggestions provided ad hoc by users, Monetary Board, and internal BSP users. - Monitoring emerging needs: - Specific DER group monitors developments and changes in financial markets to improve methodological soundness and expand institutional coverage. - Recognition of trade-offs between data quality and timeliness driven by SDDS requirements. - Production is automated with checks and validations, but delays in bank reporting and validation have led to sacrificing quality to meet timeliness. - Issues discussed at weekly group-head meetings and ad hoc meetings with International Operations Department and other users. - Recommendation: establish periodic surveys of users of Selected Philippine Economic Indicators to assess usefulness and needs for specific detailed information. ### Integrity, professionalism, and transparency - Professionalism: - BSP statutory provisions support independence (Section 1 of Republic Act 7653: BSP enjoys fiscal and administrative autonomy). - Human Resource Department qualification criteria enforce minimum qualifications (example: Bank Officer IV requires a master’s degree; higher positions require CSEE or CES examination). - DER promotes professionalism via internal lectures/briefings and external participation with other statistical compilers and international organizations. - Source and technique choices: - Choices of sources and statistical techniques are informed solely by statistical considerations. - Commenting on misuse: - DER comments on erroneous interpretation of statistics when deemed significant; provides explanatory notes and written explanations to press editors; such explanations are published in the press. - Transparency of processes: - Republic Act no. 7653 is available on the BSP website. - Advance Release Calendar for the Philippines’ SDDS data categories is publicly available. - Statistical publications list contact information for BSP departments. - BSP website links to the IMF’s Data Standard Bulletin Board (DSBB) which informs users on coverage, periodicity, timeliness, integrity, and quality. - No official outside the BSP has access to data prior to public release. - DER is identified as the source of monetary statistics in Selected Philippine Economic Indicators. - BSP website requests attribution when its statistics are reproduced and restricts reselling, redistributing, or creating derivative commercial works without written consent; recommendation that this requirement be explicitly indicated in the monthly Selected Philippine Economic Indicators and other statistical publications. - Advance notice practices: - Major changes in methodology and compilation (e.g., expanded institutional coverage, new charts of accounts) are given advance notice. - Other changes in data classification, source data, and techniques are announced simultaneously with data release and accompanied by explanatory notes where needed. *Italic: Content derived from the supplied PDF section on BSP annual report, DER responsibilities, data sharing, confidentiality, resources, quality, integrity, and transparency.* ### 1.3 Ethical standards ### 1.3 Ethical standards ### Guidelines for staff behavior - Republic Act no. 6713 (an Act Establishing a Code of Conduct and Ethnical Standards for Public Officials and Employees) — Section 7c: public officials and employees shall not use or divulge confidential information officially known to them by reason of their office. - Republic Act no. 7653 — Section 27: - BSP staff prohibited from being an officer, director, lawyer or agent, employee, consultant or stockholder, directly or indirectly, of any institution subject to supervision or examination by the BSP, except non-stock savings and loan associations and provident funds organized exclusively for BSP employees. - Section 27 also stipulates BSP staff behavior regarding receiving gifts, revealing confidential information, and borrowing from institutions subject to BSP supervision or examination. ### BSP Employee Handbook and confidentiality - The BSP Employee Handbook provides specific guidelines for safeguarding confidential information: - Affairs of the BSP are confidential and should not be disclosed without proper authority. - Employees liable for any loss or injury suffered by the BSP or other institution as a result of unauthorized disclosure or use of confidential information. - Employees may be subject to criminal prosecution or administrative action for violations. - The handbook specifies cases considered violations of confidentiality rules. ### Induction and awareness - New employees of the BSP are made aware of the guidelines for staff behavior when they join the organization. ### Methodological soundness — concepts and definitions - Framework for analytical accounts of the BSP and commercial banks is generally based on the IMF’s Draft Guide to Money and Banking Statistics in International Financial Statistics (December 1984). - Money aggregates compiled and disseminated by the BSP: - M0: comprising currency in circulation. - M1: comprising the components of M0 and demand deposits (nonfinancial public enterprises, private sector, local governments, and other banking institutions) in the national currency. - M2: comprising the components of M1 and time and savings deposits (nonfinancial public enterprises, private sector, local governments, and other banking institutions) in the national currency. - M3: comprising the components of M2 and deposit substitutes in national currency that are held by domestic sectors other than the BSP, commercial banks, and the central government. - M4: comprising the components of M3 and foreign currency deposits (nonfinancial public enterprises, private sector, local governments, and other banking institutions) that are held in foreign currency deposits units (FCDUs) of commercial banks. - Other aggregates compiled and disseminated: - Net domestic credit to the public sector (comprising the national (central) government, local governments, and public enterprises, both financial and nonfinancial). - Domestic credit to the private sector. - Data on the net foreign assets (net foreign position). - Following IMF’s MFSM (September 2000), BSP has begun compiling monetary data in the format recommended by the manual and is conducting studies to adopt the Financial Corporations Survey to extend coverage beyond deposit-taking institutions. ### Scope of coverage - Institutional coverage as of August 31, 2003: - BSP, 42 active commercial banks (including branches of foreign banks operating in the Philippines), and 219 rural banks that accept demand deposits. - Branches of the Philippines banks operating abroad are excluded. - Monetary statistics include data of one commercial bank currently in the process of liquidation; deposits of this bank are included in the money aggregates (not reclassified as restricted deposits). - Expansion recommended to include: - 93 thrift banks. - 555 rural banks that accept other than demand deposits. - 85 nonstock savings and loan associations. - 12 nonbank financial institutions with quasi-banking functions that issue instruments considered as deposit substitutes. - As of December 2002, deposits and deposit substitutes issued by these financial corporations were equivalent to about 10 percent of deposits in domestic currency collected by commercial banks. - Exclusion of about 60,000 credit and savings cooperatives: - As of December 2001, deposits collected by the savings and credit cooperatives from members were equivalent to about 0.22 percent of deposits collected by commercial banks; impact on monetary aggregates would be negligible. - Economic and Financial Monitoring Group has recently added expanded coverage of depository corporations; planned dissemination by end-2003. - Definition of residency consistent with BPM5 and 1993 SNA: - Branches of foreign banks in the Philippines regarded as residents; branches of domestic banks abroad classified as nonresidents. - Overseas banking units (OBUs) not included in monetary statistics though considered residents; BSP positions with OBUs currently included in foreign assets and foreign liabilities but should be classified as claims on/liabilities to other financial corporations. ### Classification and sectorization - Residency criterion used to distinguish domestic and external transactions; broadly consistent with BPM5, 1993 SNA, and MFSM. - Sectoral classification in BSP detailed presentation differs from MFSM recommended subsectors: - BSP groupings: (1) central bank, (2) commercial banks and rural banks accepting demand deposits, (3) public sector, and (4) private sector. - Lack of supporting schedules (except for BSP, commercial banks, and thrift banks) prevents proper sectorization of other depository corporations. - Principles underlying BSP classification of financial instruments broadly consistent with international standards; data on financial derivatives (other than foreign exchange swaps) are not available and thus not included. - Specific treatment deviations: - Import deposits classified as foreign liabilities or as restricted deposits depending on restriction duration. - Commercial bank holdings of export-related bills classified as foreign assets rather than holdings of resident-issued securities. - BSP positions with OBUs classified as foreign assets and liabilities rather than claims on/liabilities to other financial corporations. - Securities repurchase operations treated as collateralized loans, consistent with MFSM. ### Basis for recording (valuation and recording practices) - MFSM general recommendation: value financial assets and liabilities at market prices or market-price equivalents; loans are valued at book value (outstanding principal plus accrued interest). - BSP accounting practices: - Accounting data and financial statements prepared in accordance with Philippines legislation and requirements of Republic Act no. 7653. - Purchase of securities recorded at acquisition cost; unamortized premiums and discounts recorded in commercial banks’ accounting but monetary data do not show holdings at market value. - In analytical accounts of the central bank, unamortized premiums and discounts are mixed with accrued interest. - Foreign-currency valuation practices with deviations: - MFSM: convert foreign-currency stocks and flows at market exchange rate at time entered (midpoint between buying and selling rate). - Monetary data compilation does not fully follow this principle: - Some foreign-currency-denominated accounts converted in accordance with MFSM; others converted using exchange rates applicable at time transactions took place. - Data on SDR allocations are not converted using current exchange rates. - Commercial bank positions in foreign currencies with nonresidents not uniformly converted to national currency, creating discrepancies with BOP statistics disseminated in U.S. dollars. - Past due loans denominated in foreign currencies revalued to national currency in central bank balance sheets only if conversion results in foreign exchange losses; not revalued if prevailing exchange rate increases. - BSP records foreign equity shares at acquisition cost and revalues them at current exchange rates prevailing at the balance sheet date. - Monetary and nonmonetary gold valued at the price determined on international markets. - Loan portfolio and deposits on banks’ balance sheets valued at book value; loan valuation not adjusted for expected loan losses. - Provisions for expected loan losses recorded as separate entries on the liability side and included in capital accounts in analytical accounts of the central bank and banking sector. - MFSM recommends compilation of data on stocks and each of three flow components: transactions, revaluations, and other changes in volume; BSP does not yet compile data on flows. - Recording basis: - Accrual accounting principles recommended in MFSM: interest due but not paid should be incorporated into outstanding amount of financial instrument. - Philippines accounting standards require interest to be accrued monthly. - Monetary data compiled do not include accrued interest in the underlying financial instrument due to unavailable instrument and sector disaggregation; accrued interest included in unclassified assets and unclassified liabilities, except for accrued interest related to BSP and commercial bank transactions with nonresidents (included in foreign assets and foreign liabilities). - Transactions generally recorded at time they occur via simultaneous electronic recording. ### Grossing/netting procedures - Assets and liabilities of the BSP and commercial banks are collected and compiled on a gross basis in line with MFSM. - Other foreign assets and other foreign liabilities of commercial banks are shown on a net basis, leading to underestimation of gross foreign assets and foreign liabilities in analytical accounts of commercial banks. - Data presented on a net basis (e.g., “foreign assets (net)” and “claims on central government (net)” in the monetary survey) are also shown with underlying gross data. - Monetary survey obtained by canceling outstanding claims and liabilities between the BSP, commercial banks, and rural banks and between commercial banks (including rural banks) themselves. ### Accuracy and reliability — source data and timeliness - Source data for analytical accounts of central bank: BSP balance sheet records and information from Comptrollership Department, Treasury Department, and other BSP departments. - Source data for analytical accounts of commercial banks: balance sheet records and supporting schedules of commercial banks and rural banks provided by the Supervisory Reports and Studies Office. - Staff monitor financial press and hold regular meetings with bankers, associations, and nonbank financial institutions to identify new developments for monetary statistics compilation. - Limitations and ongoing improvements: - Transactions that cannot be reasonably approximated or allocated are recorded in “other assets” and “other liabilities.” - Supporting schedules of rural banks and nonbank financial institutions with quasi-banking functions are not provided to compilers. - Data reported by savings and loan associations lack needed detail for proper sectorization and classification; steps under way to introduce reporting changes. - Requests made to Supervisory Reports and Studies Office and Information Systems Technology Department for better sectorization and classification, including financial derivatives. - Timeliness: - Unaudited BSP balance sheet provided with a lag of four weeks. - To comply with SDDS requirements, BSP disseminates preliminary analytical accounts of the central bank based on operational data from the Treasury Department and other BSP units. - Commercial banks and thrift banks required to submit reports not later than 15 working days after the reference period; other banks report quarterly. - On average, seven commercial banks report about one week later than prescribed; to comply with SDDS, balances of those banks that lag are carried forward. - Banks are penalized for late or erroneous reporting. *Source: _cr04281 - 1.3 Ethical standards.* ### 3.2 Statistical techniques ### _cr04281 - 3.2 Statistical techniques ### 3.2 Statistical techniques — compilation and processing - Balance sheet records and supporting schedules of banks are provided by the Supervisory Reports and Studies Office using Excel format. - Several checks are included within the data. - The statistical techniques used to compile monetary statistics are automated. - In processing source data, computerized files that incorporate macros are used to avoid processing errors. - Procedures for data management are documented with assistance of the BSP’s Information and Systems Technology Department. ### 3.2.2 Other statistical procedures (data adjustments, transformations, analysis) - Upon the implementation of the new General Ledger/Subsidiary Ledger for thrift banks, major revisions, such as programming systems and mapping old records vis-à-vis new records, are being done. - In the meantime, data pertaining to thrift banks’ supporting schedules regarding sectorization were estimated. - In case of late reporting, balances of the previous month are carried forward. - The DER calculates seasonally adjusted data on the aggregate M3. ### 3.3 Assessment and validation of source data - The Supervisory Reports and Studies Office monitors and evaluates the timeliness, completeness, and accuracy of totals in bank reports. - This department informs respective bank of any erroneous report. - Queries regarding the balance sheet data and supporting schedules of the BSP and commercial banks are solved among the Comptrollership Department, the Treasury Department, the Supervisory Reports and Studies Office, the DER, and other BSP departments. - A designated group of the DER monitors developments and changes in financial markets, which may affect the compilation of monetary statistics. ### 3.4 Assessment and validation of intermediate data and statistical outputs - 3.4.1 Main intermediate data are validated against other information where applicable: - If deemed necessary, the accuracy of the balance sheets and data in supporting schedules is checked against secondary data sources, such as with data collected by other BSP departments. - In general, most queries concerning monetary statistics are resolved by the Economic and Financial Monitoring Group directly with the banks. - 3.4.2 Statistical discrepancies in intermediate data are assessed and investigated: - The Economic and Financial Monitoring Group investigates statistical discrepancies and determines major factors that might be contributing to them. - 3.4.3 Statistical discrepancies and other potential indicators of problems in statistical outputs are investigated: - Large fluctuations in monetary or credit aggregates are rare and likely to occur only after a significant change in statistical methodology or source data. - Upon the release of monetary statistics, the Economic and Financial Monitoring Group is likely to receive inquiries from data users and handle them directly. - In the case of large and unexplained fluctuations in data series, the Economic and Financial Monitoring Group would investigate possible classification/sectorization errors by individual respondents. ### 3.5 Revision studies - No mechanism is in place to conduct routine revision studies. - Deviations, omissions, and other potential sources of problems in the data (e.g., erroneous sectorization of institutional units) are identified and investigated on an ad hoc basis. - The results of these ad hoc studies are not made available to the users. ### 4 Serviceability — relevance and user engagement - 4.1 Relevance: - There is no formally established process of regular consultation with policy departments, ministries, or representatives from the private sector or academia. - The DER informally reviews monetary policy needs with BSP units, in particular with the Monetary Policy Group, the Financial Market and Banking Group, the Macroeconomic Policy Group, the Balance of Payments Group, and also with the Advisory Committee on Inflation Targeting and the Monetary Board. - A users’ forum was conducted in 2000 and 2001 to enhance public awareness of the BSP produced statistics. - This forum will be conducted now regularly on an annual basis and will also include users outside of Metro Manila. - The DER regularly participates in international statistical meetings and seminars organized by international and regional organizations. ### 4.2 Timeliness and periodicity - 4.2.1 Timeliness follows dissemination standards: - In accordance with the SDDS requirements, the analytical accounts of the central bank are first disseminated on the BPS website within 15 days after the reference month. These data are preliminary because they are compiled based on the operational data provided by the Treasury Department and other BSP units. - The revised data for the month are based on the unaudited BSP balance sheet and are disseminated about five weeks after the reference month. - The preliminary analytical accounts of the banking sector (monetary survey) are first disseminated on the BSP website 30 days after the end of the reference month, in accordance with the SDDS requirements. - The revised data for the analytical accounts of the banking sector are disseminated about six weeks after the reference month. - 4.2.2 Periodicity follows dissemination standards: - The analytical accounts of the central bank and of the banking sector are disseminated on a monthly basis, consistent with the specifications of the SDDS. ### 4.3 Consistency - 4.3.1 Statistics are consistent within the dataset: - Central banks’ and commercial banks’ records for claims on, and liabilities to, each other show usually only negligible discrepancies, because of differences in the time of recording financial transactions. - A reconciliation of stock and flow data is not available, because flow data for monetary statistics are not compiled. - Differences exist in claims of commercial banks on the BSP vis-à-vis BSP’s liabilities to commercial banks in foreign currencies related to a certificate of the BSP’s indebtedness sold to a consortium of foreign banks that later sold the certificate to local commercial banks. - In monetary statistics and balance of payments statistics, the BSP certificate of indebtedness held by the domestic commercial bank should be reclassified as domestic liabilities, specifically as securities issued by the BSP to commercial banks. - 4.3.2 Statistics are consistent or reconcilable over a reasonable period of time: - Time series are available in the electronic system managed by the DER and on the BSP website. - When changes in source data, methodology, and statistical techniques are introduced, all time series are revised. - Main breaks and discontinuities in the time series are explained in detail in attached notes/footnotes. - Unusual changes in economic trends are explained by the DER in the monthly publication the Selected Philippine Economic Indicators. - 4.3.3 Statistics are consistent or reconcilable with those obtained through other data sources and/or frameworks: - Owing to inconsistent procedures used for converting of foreign-currency-denominated accounts to national currency values in monetary statistics, data on foreign liabilities of commercial banks presented by the BOP statistics in US$ are not reconcilable with the same set of data in pesos disseminated by monetary statistics. - Consistency between government finance statistics and monetary statistics is regularly maintained for credits provided by the banking sector to government units because the BSP presents data on outstanding public debt in banks to the Department of Finance (DOF). - There is a need to reconcile more detailed data on public sector transactions with the DOF records and to establish a regular procedure for updating a list of nonfinancial and financial public corporations for their proper sectorization in monetary data. - A comparison of a list of these corporations between the DOF and the BSP revealed there are 10 corporations for which BSP has not provided instructions to commercial banks for their proper classification in their accounting records. ### 4.4 Revision policy and practice - 4.4.1 Revisions follow a regular, well-established, and transparent schedule: - Because of a need to use operational data of the BSP and delays in reporting of banks, the BSP regularly releases preliminary data on the analytical accounts of the central bank and the analytical accounts of commercial banks to comply with the SDDS requirements. - Rural banks, non-stock savings and loan associations, and nonbank financial institutions with quasi-banking functions report data only quarterly, and monetary data are released monthly; data of quarterly reporting banks are carried forward in the compilation of monetary statistics until new quarterly data are provided. - Therefore, preliminary data could be published up to four months. - 4.4.2 Preliminary data are clearly identified: - Revised data are identified as such in the publications and on the BSP website. - 4.4.3 Studies and analyses of revisions are made public: - No routine studies and analyses are carried out because monetary data are based on accounting records and preliminary data are released only due to delays in finalization of balance sheets and reporting and quarterly provision of data. - Errors and data shortcomings in the data reported by banks are the focus of internal analysis. - The users are generally unaware why the BSP made revisions in disseminated data. ### 5 Accessibility — data, metadata, and user assistance - 5.1 Data accessibility: - 5.1.1 Presentation: - The presentation of monetary statistics by the BSP, in general, facilitates the interpretation of the data. - The monthly publication the Selected Philippine Economic Indicators, prepared by DER, covers developments in money markets, balance sheets of the BSP, money supply, and credits. - Estimates are produced only for internal analytical purposes and are not disseminated. - In addition to monthly monetary data, key statistical indicators are disseminated weekly in the form of press releases and regular tables on the BSP website. - The DER disseminates seasonally adjusted data for the aggregate M3. - It would be desirable that the BSP disseminate also the full instrument and sectoral breakdown of data in the central bank survey and the other depository corporations survey and details on sectoral components of money and credit aggregates. - 5.1.2 Dissemination media and formats: - Monetary data are disseminated in hardcopy and electronic formats. - Monthly time series of the current year are disseminated on the BSP website. - The monthly publication the Selected Philippine Economic Indicators shows three to five years of annual data and 12 positions of monthly data. - The most detailed monetary data, including charts, and more longer time series are disseminated in the statistical supplement to the BSP annual report. - 5.1.3 Statistics are released on a preannounced schedule: - An advance release calendar is posted on the BSP website providing one-quarter ahead notice of the precise release days of monetary data. - 5.1.4 Statistics are made available to all users at the same time: - Data are released simultaneously to all interested users on the BSP website. - 5.1.5 Nonpublished (but nonconfidential) subaggregates are made available upon request: - Unpublished and nonconfidential data are made available upon request free of charge upon the authority of senior staff of the DER. - 5.2 Metadata accessibility: - 5.2.1 Documentation on concepts, scope, classifications, basis of recording, data sources, and statistical techniques is available, and differences from internationally accepted standards are annotated: - The DER briefly describes disseminates in the monthly publication the Selected Philippine Economic Indicators all indicators and aggregates used in the tables for monetary statistics. - No documentation on differences from internationally accepted standards and good practices is available. - The SDDS page on the BSP website has a direct link to the DSBB home page where information is posted on data coverage, periodicity, timeliness, integrity, and quality. - 5.2.2 Levels of detail are adapted to the needs of the intended audience: - The DER Concept Handbook fully informs users about the framework for the compilation and presentation of Philippines monetary statistics and important metadata details, such as concepts, scope of the data, nature of the data sources, and compilation practices. - 5.3 Assistance to users: - 5.3.1 Contact person for each subject field is publicized: - Phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the BSP officials responsible for the compilation of statistical data can be found on the BSP website. - The monthly publication the Selected Philippine Economic Indicators shows the phone and fax numbers and e-mail address of the DER. - The DER Concept Handbook is available at the BSP Center for Statistical Information. - 5.3.2 Catalogs of publications, documents, and other services, including information on any charges, are widely available: - A catalogue of publications, including statistical publications, is available in hard copy and updated each year. - A list of periodic publications is disseminated on the BSP website. - Prices of statistical products and services are clearly disclosed, and assistance is provided in placing orders. *Source: _cr04281 - 3.2 Statistical techniques* ### Section 23 of R.A. No. 7653 requires that data on individual firms, other than banks, gathered ### _cr04281 - Section 23 of R.A. No. 7653 requires that data on individual firms, other than banks, gathered ### Legal framework and confidentiality - Section 23 of R.A. No. 7653: - Data on individual firms, other than banks, gathered by the Department of Economic Research (DER) and other departments or units of the BSP shall not be made available to any person or entity outside of the BSP whether public or private except under order of the court or under such conditions as may be prescribed by BSP’s Monetary Board. - Grants BSP the authority to request from government offices and instrumentalities, or government-owned or controlled corporations, any data it may require for the proper discharge of its functions and responsibilities. - Section 27 (banks): - Prohibits BSP personnel from revealing, except under orders of the court, the Congress, or any government office or agency authorized by law, or under such conditions as may be prescribed by the Monetary Board, information relating to the condition or business of any institution. - Does not apply to giving information to the Monetary Board or the Governor of BSP, or to any person authorized by either of them, in writing, to receive such information. - Section 16 of R.A. No. 7653: - Members of the Monetary Board, officials, examiners, and employees of the BSP who willfully violate the Act or who are guilty of negligence, abuses, malfeasance, misfeasance or fail to exercise extraordinary diligence shall be held liable for any loss or injury suffered by BSP or other banking institutions as a result. - Such employees may be subject to criminal prosecution or administrative action (BSP Employee Handbook). - Section 80 of R.A. No. 7653: - Allows the Monetary Board to require reporting of all transactions or operations in gold and in foreign exchange, and to prescribe declaration forms. - No penalty is provided for noncompliance with this reporting requirement as described in the source. ### Assurances, security procedures, and internal access - Survey assurances: - In surveys of nonbank enterprises, BSP provides assurances that individual firms’ data derived from a particular survey will be treated as confidential, not given to any other entity or agency (government or private), used only for statistical purposes, and presented only in aggregate form. - Security procedures in DER: - Designation of authorized persons to open DER offices each morning. - Oversight during working hours of all persons entering the work area. - Individual computers within a group are password protected and not used by staff from other groups within DER. - No sharing of individual firm data with entities outside BSP (limited sharing of individual firm data with other BSP departments on an as-needed basis). - Internal governmental access to statistics prior to release: - NSCB is given an advance copy of quarterly estimates of the current account with details of factor and nonfactor services eight weeks after the reference quarter for national income accounts preparation. - Balance of Payments Developments report and supporting monthly details are made available under strict conditions two working days (recently changed from one working day) prior to public release to the Governor and members of the Monetary Board for notation. ### Reporting mandates, instruments, and enforcement - Bank reporting system: - Section 80 provides basis for BSP to require banks to report movements in foreign currency accounts and all transactions or operations in gold and foreign exchange. - BSP Circular No. 194, Series of 1999 requires reporting of foreign currency transactions coursed through Regular Banking Units (RBUs) and Foreign Currency Deposit Units (FCDUs) in the Revised FED Form 1 (Consolidated Report on Foreign Exchange Assets and Liabilities). - FED Form 1 (FX Form 1) is used for regulatory and statistical purposes and requires an extensive amount of information. - Banks face monetary penalties (paragraphs 4 and 5 of Circular No. 194, as amended by Circular letter dated August 29, 2001) for nonsubmission of, delays in, and submission of erroneous or incomplete reports. - Legal confidentiality of FCDU deposits: - R.A. No. 6426, as amended, stipulates all foreign currency deposits are declared “considered of an absolutely confidential nature and may not be examined, inquired or looked into by any person, government official, bureau or office except when the examination is made in the course of a special or general examination of a bank and is specifically authorized by the Monetary Board...” - As a result, classification of foreign currency transactions coursed through FCDUs is done on a best effort basis. - Following liberalization, around 70–75 percent of exports of goods and services transactions are effected through FCDUs. - Additional reporting requirements and changes: - Circular No. 284 (June 4, 2001): thrift banks required to prepare and submit FX Form 1 monthly starting with data for January 2001. - Circular Letter (June 27, 2001) and memorandum (July 20, 2001): universal and commercial banks with forex corporations as affiliates/subsidiaries required to prepare and submit a weekly report on forex corporations’ foreign exchange purchases and sales. - Circular No. 274 (February 27, 2001): offshore banking units (OBUs), treated as residents, are required to submit monthly Statement of Assets and Liabilities, including schedules, starting January 2001. ### Resources and capacity - BOPIRG responsibilities and staffing: - The Balance of Payments and International Research Group (BOPIRG) of DER is responsible for monitoring, compiling, reporting, and analyzing balance of payments and international investment position (IIP) statistics; reporting on international reserves; foreign exchange budget; and balance of payments forecasting for financial programming. - Budgetary complement is adequate to support current activities, but staff and computing resources are not commensurate with requirements for compiling accurate balance of payments statistics and ongoing development of IIP statistics. - BOPIRG composition: - Total of 17 personnel originally, including a Deputy Director of DER. - Six of these staff are officers (excluding the Deputy Director). - Only six persons are directly involved in compilation of balance of payments and IIP statistics. - Remaining roles: two analyze the balance of payments and monitor external developments; three monitor reserves (including daily reporting of reserves and monthly reporting of the reserves and foreign currency template); two are involved in balance of payments projections; one prepares a compendium of external statistics for management; one is involved in administration; and two supervise the above activities. - In August 2003, CBTS Subgroup and ITRS Subgroup (staff of 22, including six officers) were reassigned to BOPIRG, enlarging BOPIRG. - Computing resources: - The enlarged BOPIRG has a total of 25 computers, mostly Pentium III, which is not sufficient for current operational needs, especially at peak production periods. New computers were scheduled for delivery (as reported in the source). - Training and external assistance: - Several officers are highly experienced; eight staff have received IMF training in balance of payments concepts and methodology. - DER has availed IMF technical assistance on several occasions but, due to work pressures, staff have not been able to implement recommendations on a timely basis. - Work allocation impacts: - Officers and junior staff are frequently assigned to collaborative research activities within DER and to external task forces (SEACEN, ACBF, etc.), impacting the ability to initiate research programs and supervise production of balance of payments statistics. ### Processes, quality awareness, and methodology governance - Quality mission statement: - DER mission affirms DER “will be the Bank’s leading provider of quality economic research and statistics that will give support to the Monetary Board in the formulation of monetary, credit, banking, and foreign exchange policies.” It commits to maintaining a highly motivated and professional staff, continuous training, leading-edge technology, and ethical standards. - Quality control processes: - DER survey forms intended for public release are required to be reviewed by NSCB under the Statistical Survey Review and Clearance System; surveys for internal use are exempt. - NSCB provides interagency task forces and technical committees as a forum for improving data collection, processing, and dissemination. - BSP’s website offers a feedback form and BSP conducts user forums to inform/educate users of new data/methodology and to solicit comments. - There is recognition by management of the trade-off between timeliness and quality; consideration is being given to disseminating quarterly rather than monthly balance of payments statistics. - Processing tools and initiatives: - BOPIRG staff utilize AS400-Dbank conversion programs, table templates to extract data from Dbank, and validation worksheets to minimize processing errors. - Efforts are underway to establish a BSP-wide Data Warehouse System to be a unified depository and storage of all BSP-collected and compiled data, including balance of payments statistics. - Review and dissemination practices: - All survey forms for public release undergo NSCB review; DER regularly responds to erroneous interpretations/misuse of its statistics and commenced monthly press briefings in early 2003 to explain balance of payments statistics and solicit feedback. - Advance notice of major methodological changes is announced through press releases and BSP publications; the planned introduction of BPM5 was publicly notified via press release. - Concepts, definitions, and scope: - The overall balance of payments structure follows BPM5; DER implemented BPM5 beginning with data for January 2000 and reworked 1999 statistics for comparison. - Data are disseminated for the current, capital, and financial accounts showing very close to the full BPM5 classification and, in some areas, additional component detail (e.g., sectoral breakdown of investment income). - Scope broadly consistent with BPM5 residency criteria, with a significant deviation in the treatment of OverSeas Filipino Workers (OFWs): - Despite BPM5 treating long-term land-based OFWs (about two years’ employment abroad) as nonresidents, BSP treats these workers as residents due to close ties and important contribution to the domestic economy. - This deviation affects classification of OFW fund remittances (compensation of employees vs. workers’ remittances) and measurement of travel receipts. ### Integrity, professionalism, and transparency - Professionalism and independence: - Section 1 of R.A. No. 7653 states BSP shall enjoy fiscal and administrative autonomy; BOPIRG carries out balance of payments compilation with complete independence. - DER sends qualified employees to external seminars and workshops on portfolio investment, IIP statistics, direct investment, and short-term capital flows. - Staff are encouraged to lecture at BSP Institute and international fora and to contribute to Bangko Sentral Review. - Source selection and statistical techniques: - DER has sole responsibility for selecting data sources and statistical techniques for balance of payments compilation. - New surveys introduced must be reviewed by NSCB under the Statistical Review and Clearance System, except internal-use surveys which are exempt (e.g., CBTS was transmitted to NSCB for information). - Misuse and clarification: - DER regularly responds to erroneous interpretations/misuse by press and users; monthly press briefings provide opportunities to explain statistics. - Public availability of terms and conditions: - Metadata posted on the IMF’s DSBB provide information on terms and conditions for collection, processing, and dissemination; BSP’s website links to the DSBB and lists DER publications and a brochure with product lists and prices. - Identification of statistical products: - Balance of payments statistics released in DER publications and on BSP’s website are clearly identified as BSP products; BSP’s website lists terms and conditions for users, including acknowledgement of source. *IMF staff report content as provided in the source unit* ### 2.3 Classification/sectorization ### 2.3 Classification/sectorization ### Deviations from BPM5 and classification issues - Goods transactions exclude repairs and goods procured in ports, which are classified under services (contrary to BPM5 treatment where goods procured in ports are part of goods). - The methodology to measure trade credit does not distinguish trade credit with affiliated enterprises, which should be classified as part of direct investment. - In loan liabilities and interest payments data, the Central Bank Board of Liquidators is incorrectly classified under other sectors rather than under the general government sector. - In reserve transactions, OBUs were incorrectly treated as nonresidents (this treatment was recently changed for other balance of payments accounts). - OBUs domiciled in the Philippines are correctly considered to be residents for balance of payments compilation, although data on the financial flows of OBUs are not yet recorded in the data. The same applies to forex corporations; OBUs and forex corporations are correctly classified under other sectors. ### Basis for recording — valuation, recording basis, and grossing/netting - Market prices are used to value most flows and stocks. - Some uncertainty exists regarding valuation practices for exports of electronic goods on consignment. - Financial transactions of the banking sector are derived from position data without adjustment for valuation changes arising from foreign exchange and price changes due to unavailability of information. - Reserve transactions, derived from position data, are adjusted for changes due to foreign exchange fluctuations; securities held as part of reserves are valued at book values rather than market prices. - Recording basis: - Recording is on a cash basis rather than on an accrual basis. - Selected financial account data include accruals—reserve assets and reserve-related liabilities and the derived data on the financial flows of the banking sector—but the income data are recorded on a cash basis. - Grossing/netting procedures: - Current and capital account transactions are mostly recorded on a gross basis. - Financial account transactions are recorded on a net basis, separately for external asset and liability components, in conformity with BPM5. - Certain ITRS-sourced transactions are recorded on a net basis (e.g., settlements related to communication services where inward remittances are net of traffic pay ins and pay outs; income and services distributions subject to withholding taxes at source). - Goods for processing are recorded on a gross basis (noted as significant in the Philippines). - Within the financial account, amounts due to/from head office, branches, and agencies of foreign and local banks are netted and recorded under assets or liabilities, other investment, currency and deposits, banks. ### Accuracy and Reliability — source data coverage and limitations - ITRS coverage and limitations: - The ITRS bank reporting component covers the banking system and related financial institutions, including RBUs and FCDUs of commercial banks, thrift banks, forex corporations, and OBUs. - Rural banks and credit cooperatives are not required to report; their transactions are believed to be minimal. - Transactions involving only peso-denominated accounts are not recorded (e.g., investment income in pesos deposited by a nonresident in a peso-denominated account held with domestic banks). - The ITRS is a closed system; commercial banks must reconcile changes in their foreign currency assets and liabilities. - Reporting frequency: daily for commercial banks, weekly for forex corporations, and monthly for thrift banks and OBUs. - For OFW transactions below US $5,000, commercial banks may aggregate values and indicate the number of transactions aggregated; OFW transactions include only transfers to accounts with banks—over-the-counter transactions of residents are considered tourist-related/other and are not used in balance of payments compilation (a survey is used to estimate travel receipts). - Reporting on FCDU transactions is done on a best-effort basis; secrecy rules and limited supporting documents can lead to misclassification and possible duplication. - Enterprise surveys (CBTS): - CBTS designed and implemented in the last quarter of 2001 to close gaps relating to transactions that bypass the domestic banking system—bank accounts abroad and intercompany accounts. - Data available from 2001 onwards; initially only BOT enterprises and a few other nonfinancial corporations are recorded in the balance of payments. - CBTS framework includes opening positions, transactions, and closing positions; response rates for BOT firms (and electronic firms) have been high, but cooperation from nonfinancial firms has been difficult. - Intercompany accounts of electronic firms are covered in CBTS but not yet integrated in compilation; intercompany accounts of garment industries and other direct investment enterprises are not yet covered (intercompany loans are captured through external debt statistics). CBTS is being extended to cover intercompany accounts of direct investment enterprises. - Goods transactions and customs data: - Customs declarations tabulated by the NSO are used to compile goods transactions. - Large upward adjustments to tabulated import data on electronic goods during 2000–02; indications that compiled import data for 2003 remain problematic though discrepancies are much lower. - IMF Direction of Trade Statistics (September 2003) suggest exports and imports for 2000–02 (and earlier years) may be considerably understated. - NSO manually tabulates customs declarations; on the import side some documents are photocopies rather than copies of actual import declaration; export documents are sequentially numbered (Customs Control Number) while imports are not. - BOC completed implementation of an automated import declarations processing system in 2002; NSO gained access to the database effective March 26, 2003, and is comparing its data on imports of electronic goods with BOC database. - BOC is developing an automated system to process export declarations. - Customs data exclude imports for use of the military, fish acquired by national vessels on the high seas from foreign vessels, and fish sold abroad from national vessels. - Excluded from goods imports are bunkers, stores, ballast and dunnage acquired abroad by Philippine carriers (sales of such products to foreign carriers are included in exports). - Data on freight and insurance on goods transactions are based on customs declarations compiled by NSO. - Travel receipts and compensation of employees: - Travel receipts are based on DOT Visitor Sample Survey (VSS) of departing visitors via Ninoy Aquino International Airport only; excludes Filipino overseas contract workers on home visits, resulting in errors and omissions but consistent with authorities’ view that OFWs are residents. - Data on travel expenditure abroad by residents are based on the ITRS. - OFW remittance data (compensation of employees) are drawn from the ITRS and thus exclude remittances not channeled through the domestic banking system (e.g., brought home by OFWs on return visits, including remittances in kind). A rider to the annual labor force survey suggests such remittances account for about 25–30 percent of total OFW remittances. - Reinvested earnings and direct investment: - Through BSP representation, SEC reporting templates have accommodated some balance of payments/IIP requirements, including estimates of reinvested earnings. No estimates are made for reinvested earnings on direct investment abroad. - Data on foreign direct investment in the Philippines are drawn from ITRS (equity and property transactions), external debt statistics (intercompany loans, including trade credit), CBTS (equity via accounts abroad of BOT firms), noncash transactions (from BSP’s International Operations Department), and data on assigned capital of foreign banks from balance sheet information. - Reverse investment (e.g., lending by the direct investment enterprise to the foreign parent) is not recorded; no information indicates such flows are significant. - Data on direct investment abroad are drawn from the ITRS and thus do not include transactions via bank accounts abroad and intercompany accounts, including trade credit. - Banking sector statistics: - Monthly foreign assets and liabilities of the banking sector obtained from DER’s Economic and Financial Monitoring Group cover external positions of commercial banks and rural banks (do not cover thrift banks and credit cooperatives). - Flow data are derived from changes in stock data and are not adjusted to exclude valuation changes owing to unavailability of information. - Stock data on foreign assets and liabilities were found to include some domestic claims and liabilities (e.g., FCDU borrowings and cash letters of credit). The interoffice float item does not represent a transaction. - Financial derivatives: - Data on financial derivative transactions with nonresidents, available from the ITRS, are not used in balance of payments compilation. - A proposed new report on financial derivatives is being prepared for implementation by the Supervisory Reports and Studies Office, with opening and closing balances plus transactions, including sectorization. - External debt statistics: - External debt data broadly in line with BPM5 recommendations. - Balance of payments statistics include external debt items not in BSP’s official measure of external debt: intercompany accounts of Philippine branches of foreign banks; long-term loans of nonbanks not serviced using Philippine banking system foreign exchange resources; long-term obligations under capital lease agreements (these items disclosed in footnotes). - Maturity and instrument breakdowns follow BPM5. - Debtors wishing to use domestic banking system to service foreign currency debt must register with BSP and report transactions; debtors intending other avenues are not legally required to register though many provide data to IOD. - IOD intends to investigate coverage of intercompany debt liabilities. Some intercompany debt may have been reported net of any claims. - Reserves: - Data obtained from BSP’s Treasury Department; flow data derived from changes in stock data, adjusted for valuation changes with respect to foreign exchange fluctuations (securities valued at book values). - Deposits in foreign banks of the Bureau of the Treasury in connection with the Brady bonds initiative are correctly not recorded in reserves. - Portfolio investment and related issues: - Portfolio investment assets drawn from ITRS, banking sector data, and CBTS. Banking sector data are derived from stock data and thus incorrectly include valuation changes. - In the ITRS, equity transactions of nonresidents via domestic stock exchanges are recorded under portfolio investment and may include some direct investment transactions (not believed significant). Data are based on settlements and thus net of fees and commissions. - Portfolio investment liabilities on bonds and notes issued abroad by residents come from external debt statistics based on issuer reports and other documents; these are recorded gross of fees and commissions but settlements data are net of these charges, so fees and commissions are not captured in the balance of payments. - Adjustments are made for banks’ and insurance companies’ purchases of securities issued abroad by domestic borrowers based on SRSO reporting; acquisitions by nonbank entities such as pension funds and holding companies are not currently captured. - Current transfers: - Data compiled from ITRS on current transfers incorrectly include some capital transfers; several such transactions have been identified to permit reclassification. - Other sources include cash disbursements from USAID, USVA, and NEDA compilations. - Grants in kind are sourced from NSO reports on imports; foreign technical assistance provided to the Philippines is not recorded. ### Timeliness and approximation to BPM5 requirements - Timeliness: - With one exception, source data are timely, permitting compilation of a monthly balance of payments. - Data on reinvested earnings are compiled from annual balance sheet information obtained from the SEC and then retroactively prorated across the months of the past year based on the trend in exports. - Approximation to BPM5: - In several important respects, source data do not reasonably approximate BPM5 recording requirements: - ITRS reporting secrecy for FCDU accounts leads to classification uncertainty and potential duplication. - Freight estimates use residence of payee rather than residency of carrier; inconsistencies noted between mid-2001 and 1999–2000 NSO data on local participation in freight for exports valued fob. - Passenger fares may be double counted due to foreign exchange purchases by travelers and remittances by foreign airline agencies; some passenger fares may be misclassified under travel expenditures (e.g., package tours). - Other transportation receipts include sales of bunkers, stores, etc., which can duplicate goods procured in ports reported in customs declarations. - Investment income largely on a cash basis; IOD plans to derive accrual estimates for interest payments. - Estimates of reinvested earnings compiled from SEC annual balance sheets include capital gains/losses, not in conformity with BPM5. *Source: _cr04281 - 2.3 Classification/sectorization* ### 3.2 Statistical techniques ### 3.2 Statistical techniques ### 3.2.1 Data compilation employs sound statistical techniques - To minimize processing errors, BOPIRG staff utilizes AS400-Dbank conversion programs (to download individual bank data from AS400), table templates to extract data from Dbank, and validation worksheets. - The entire “consolidation” of the balance of payments accounts is done through Dbank. - After consolidation, each member of the group responsible for inputs into the consolidation is required to confirm the accuracy of the data. - The ITRS and CBTS collections are automated. ### 3.2.2 Other statistical procedures (e.g., data adjustments and transformations, and statistical analysis) employ sound statistical techniques - Goods transactions: - BOPIRG adjusts the customs trade data for returned goods and operational leases included in imports. - Allocations within the goods category are made between general merchandise and goods for processing and nonmonetary gold (but not for repairs on goods and goods procured in ports). - An interagency task force developed estimates of imports of electronic goods based on information gathered from a sample of firms, which was used to adjust imports upward in 2000–02. The revisions to imports were explained in a press release issued by the NSO (April 22, 2003). - BSP initiated work on this data problem and provided resources to the project. - Freight and insurance: - Data on freight and insurance on exports and imports of goods are based on information reported in the customs declarations and compiled by the NSO with respect to the percentage of goods carried by local/foreign carriers. - For exports fob, the local component (i.e., the percentage of exports carried by domestic carriers) suddenly became zero in mid-2001. BOPIRG continues to estimate a local share based on the reported ratio in 2000 adjusted by the growth in exports. - The local component for freight on imports (i.e., the percentage of imports carried by domestic carriers) became zero in January 2002. BOPIRG makes no allowance for goods imports carried by local carriers. - Trade credits: - Trade credits—assets and liabilities—are estimated on the basis of data compiled from customs declarations (adjusted for grants in kind) and settlements with respect to goods transactions from the ITRS. - The ITRS does not cover settlements via bank accounts abroad and via intercompany accounts; the persistent understatement of settlements in relation to the recorded trade data gives rise to implausibly large flows that do not reverse, suggesting an ever-rising level of trade credit assets and liabilities. - Problems in the measurement of trade in electronic goods also contribute to the problem. - The data on liabilities also gives rise to duplication with data on trade credit included in intercompany loans under direct investment. ### 3.3 Assessment and validation of source data - Within the ITRS Subgroup: - Each staff member is assigned to review reporting on a specific number of transaction categories across banks and to monitor reporting of a number of individual banks. - Banks are contacted to clarify irregularities; if errors are identified, banks are required to transmit an amended report. - Penalties are assessed for late and/or erroneous reporting and failure to provide an amended report in response to a written request. - The opening and closing balances reported in FX Form 1 are not reconciled with the data on foreign claims drawn from the monetary statistics and used in deriving the financial flows of the banking sector, because the latter include noncash items and other adjustments. However, banks submit a monthly reconciliation statement of the stock data reported under FX Form 1 and the CSOC. - OFW transactions: - For transactions of OFWs below US$5,000, commercial banks are permitted to aggregate the value of such transactions and indicate how many transactions were aggregated; the latter information is used in editing reported amounts. - OFW transactions include only transfers to accounts; over-the-counter transactions of residents are considered tourist-related/other transactions. - CBTS Subgroup checks include: - Checking that the opening balance reported by a company in a particular month tallies with the ending balance reported a month earlier. - Verifying that all receipts/payments are properly identified as resident/nonresident and properly classified. - Automatically verifying any large item or sudden increase/decrease in the value of a particular variable with the respondent. - Monitoring: - One member of BOPIRG regularly monitors external developments in the press media; this information is used in reporting balance of payments developments to the Monetary Board and in checking large transactions, such as direct investment. ### 3.4 Assessment and validation of intermediate data and statistical outputs - 3.4.1 Main intermediate data are validated against other information where applicable: - BOPIRG reconciles data on interest payments on BSP’s external debt reported by IOD with Treasury data. - Data on equity inflows drawn from the ITRS are compared with IOD information on equity registrations (noting that IOD may not have accurate timing information). - Comparisons are made between the ITRS and the CBTS for potential duplication of data. - Data on portfolio investment transactions in domestic securities—equities and debt instruments—are compared with flow data reported to IOD by five large domestic custodian banks; the latter also provide data on stocks of domestic securities held by nonresidents used in compiling the IIP statement. - Monitoring of external sector developments sometimes identifies transactions in the print media (e.g., direct investment transactions) that are checked with the ITRS and/or the enterprise, though such contacts are infrequent because of work pressures. - The staff of the Economic and Financial Monitoring Group checks the reserves data (positions) against the BSP’s balance sheet. - DER routinely compares/reconciles the Treasury and IOD data on use of Fund credit and loans and external loans of the national government. BOPIRG also checks press announcements of securities issuance with IOD external debt data. - 3.4.2 Statistical discrepancies in intermediate data are assessed and investigated: - The behavior of series is not cross-checked with related series/indicators. - The IIP data are not sufficiently developed for use in checking the accuracy of the reported investment income estimates. - 3.4.3 Statistical discrepancies and other potential indicators of problems in statistical outputs are investigated: - Bilateral information on portfolio investment and loans are exchanged with the Bank of Korea and the Bank of Japan as part of an initiative of ASEAN+3. ### 3.5 Revision studies - A study of the revisions to the data on estimates of reinvested earnings on direct investment in the Philippines was undertaken, which led to the discontinuation of estimating these data in current periods. - Studies are not routinely carried out. ### 4. Serviceability #### 4.1 Relevance - 4.1.1 The relevance and practical utility of existing statistics in meeting users’ needs are monitored: - Monthly briefings to the press and consultations once a year with the general public during celebration of National Statistics Month are conducted to reach out to users and obtain feedback. - Users are invited to provide comments via the feedback form on BSP’s website. - Through the NSCB and other interagency collaborative works, BSP can raise issues that require interagency cooperation in policy and/or statistical issues. - BSP participates in international meetings organized by international and regional organizations; one recent ASEAN initiative involved standardization of foreign direct investment statistics released to the public. #### 4.2 Timeliness and periodicity - 4.2.1 Timeliness follows dissemination standards: - The BSP disseminates monthly balance of payments statistics within three months after the end of the reference month, thereby meeting the timeliness of one quarter prescribed by the SDDS for the balance of payments statistics data category. - 4.2.2 Periodicity follows dissemination standards: - The BSP disseminates monthly balance of payments statistics, thereby exceeding the quarterly periodicity prescribed by the SDDS for the balance of payments statistics data category. - BSP is considering dissemination of quarterly, rather than monthly, balance of payments statistics to better employ existing resources. #### 4.3 Consistency - 4.3.1 Statistics are consistent within the dataset: - With one exception, annual data are derived from the monthly data, and thus the two series are consistent. - Data on reinvested earnings on foreign direct investment in the Philippines are compiled on an annual basis and in the absence of an appropriate indicator distributed across the months on the basis of total monthly exports. - The reserves data and reserve liabilities (analytic presentation) and the foreign assets and liabilities of the banking sector include accrued interest, which is not consistent with the cash-based income flows recorded in the current account for these accounts. - In some years, the magnitude of the errors and omissions item has been significant and appears to be related to a methodology/statistical technique employed, for instance, the very large services estimates in 1997. Recording problems associated with goods transactions in electronics would also be a contributing factor during 1997. - 4.3.2 Statistics are consistent or reconcilable over a reasonable period of time: - The “peso conversion for FCDs” adjustment developed in the mid-1990s gave rise to a major inconsistency in the data on other miscellaneous, professional, and technical services receipts, which more than doubled over the course of three years to $12 billion in 1997, dropping to less than $1 billion in 1999. - Business service payments also increased sharply during that period and later dropped. - Adjustments on a smaller scale were made to other data series in following years because of the FCDU problem, creating other breaks (e.g., merchanting services to remove duplication with trade data). - A sharp falloff in payments for government services n.i.e. in 2001 (US$2 million recorded in the second quarter) compared to much larger figures in previous years may be related to the FCDU problem. - Consistency in data series over time has been hampered by several revisions to the bank reporting form (FX Form 1) to improve reporting on FCDU transactions. Detailed methodological notes have not been prepared to explain the various breaks apparent in the data series. - Starting with the January 2000 balance of payments, the BSP adopted the BPM5 framework; past data were recast back to 1999. Annual data for 1990–99, based on the old format, are presented in Selected Philippine Economic Indicators to enable users to relate the old format with BPM5 classification. - In 2000, a problem was identified in trade in electronic goods because of an inconsistent trend between electronic exports and imported inputs. Large upward corrections to imports of electronic goods (based on a survey) implemented in early 2003 were applied to the 2000–02 data; data for 1997–99 are also likely understated. - A related problem is measurement of trade credit: comparing customs trade data with settlements data from the ITRS has resulted in implausible estimates that bear no relationship to corresponding IIP data. The technique requires more comprehensive information on trade settlements (intercompany accounts, accounts with banks abroad) and good coverage of trade flows from customs declarations. - 4.3.3 Statistics are consistent or reconcilable with those obtained through other data sources and/or statistical frameworks: - Exports and imports of goods and services in the balance of payments are not consistent with external transactions in the national accounts. - NSCB generates its own estimates of travel payments (using travel tax collection trends benchmarked in the mid-1990s); NSCB estimates were 15 percent higher than BSP in 2002 but 15 percent lower in 2001. - NSCB compiles an estimate of the “total compensation” of OFWs based on earnings data applied to numbers of workers; overall NSCB estimate was close to 20 percent higher than the balance of payments figure in 2001 (8 percent in 2002). - Compiled balance of payments data on trade credit liabilities are not consistent with information published in the external debt statistics (used in preparing IIP estimates). - Some compiled financial flow series are not entirely consistent with IIP statistics where alternative data sources have been used (e.g., direct investment abroad and nonbank deposits with banks abroad). IIP data were first compiled for 2001 and are still in development. - Financial transactions of OBUs and forex corporations are not yet recorded in the balance of payments, though corresponding positions have been correctly recorded in the IIP statistics. - Data on goods transactions and banking sector flows are reconcilable with those obtained from other statistical frameworks, as BOPIRG uses these data sets as source data. #### 4.4 Revision policy and practice - 4.4.1 Revisions follow a regular, well-established, and transparent schedule: - Data for the current year are revised with the release of data for the third month of each quarter. - With release of the December data, revisions are also made to data of past years, as required. - The revision schedule is not made known to the public, but the revised data are noted in a footnote in the release. - 4.4.2 Preliminary data are clearly identified: - The monthly balance of payments data are preliminary when first released although this is not made explicit. - In most instances, users were informed that the published data have been revised, but only through a footnote. - The revised data are disseminated with the same level of detail as previously published for the data being revised. - 4.4.3 Studies and analyses of revisions are made public: - Revisions to data are discussed in technical notes posted on the BSP’s website (but not in the hard copy version of Selected Philippine Economic Indicators). ### 5. Accessibility #### 5.1 Data accessibility - 5.1.1 Statistics are presented in a way that facilitates proper interpretation and meaningful comparisons: - Balance of Payments Developments, disseminated each month on BSP’s website, provides a monthly analysis including charts and a wide array of tables containing component detail. - BSP employs an analytic balance of payments presentation in which reserve liabilities are netted from reserve assets; reserve liabilities include use of Fund credit and loans and the short-term external liabilities of BSP. - Selected Philippine Economic Indicators contains a summary analytic balance of payments table, tables on commodity detail on goods transactions, direction of trade, BPM5 component detail of the balance of payments, stock data on external debt, and net international reserves. The publication does not contain any analysis of the data. - Seasonally adjusted data are not prepared. - With BPM5 introduction in 2000, BSP uses sign convention for transactions in foreign financial assets: increase = credit/decrease = debit (opposite to BPM5 international sign convention). BSP uses BPM5 presentation for reporting to the IMF’s Statistics Department. - Errors and omissions are termed “net unclassified items” in the disseminated data (deviates from BPM5 terminology). - 5.1.2 Dissemination media and formats are adequate: - Following a briefing to the press, balance of payments statistics are released on BSP’s website via a summary information release, followed the next day by Balance of Payments Developments. - Data are subsequently disseminated on the 15th day of the month at the Selected Philippine Economic Indicators page located at http://www.bsp.gov.ph/Statistics/spei. - Historical data are provided in the annexes, and longer time series are provided upon request, without a fee. - Hard copies of Selected Philippine Economic Indicators are available the same time it is released on the website. - 5.1.3 Statistics are released on a preannounced schedule: - An advance release calendar that gives one-quarter ahead notice of the release dates is posted on the BSP’s internet website: http://www.bsp.gov.ph. - 5.1.4 Statistics are made available to all users at the same time: - Data are released simultaneously via a press release to the accredited press through BSP’s Corporate Affairs Office and by posting the data on BSP’s internet website’s SDDS and mirrored in the NSCB’s website at http://www.nscb.gov.ph/sdds/nsdp.htm. - Selected key components of the balance of payments are disseminated in advance of the full balance of payments report (e.g., OFW remittances). - 5.1.5 Nonpublished (but nonconfidential) subaggregates are made available upon request: - In some cases, nonpublished but nonconfidential subaggregates are made available to users upon request, including regular data submissions to ASEAN, SEACEN, and other international organizations of this type. *Source: _cr04281 - 3.2 Statistical techniques* ### 5.2 Metadata accessibility ### 5.2 Metadata accessibility ### Documentation on concepts, scope, classifications, basis of recording, data sources, and statistical techniques - A summary methodology on the concepts and statistical techniques data coverage is available on the BSP’s SDDS page. The SDDS summary methodologies are regularly reviewed and updated. - A Concept Handbook prepared by DER, containing the scope, sources, and methodology used for each of the balance of payments accounts, is made available to the public at the BSP’s Center for Statistical Information. - More detailed documentation of the data sources for each balance of payments account is available internally; these have not yet been consolidated into a single document and regularly updated. - The monthly Selected Philippine Economic Indicators provides a brief overview of the concepts and definitions employed in the principal balance of payments accounts. - Summary metadata is provided to the IMF for publication in the annual Balance of Payments Statistics Yearbook (Part 3). ### Levels of detail adapted to intended audiences - Balance of payments presentations and the level of details are adapted to the needs of the intended audience. - For press briefings, aside from the summary table, the following are highlighted: - trade in goods - travel - OFW remittances - For economic briefings for business sectors in general and foreign investors in particular, the following are given prominence: - direct investment - portfolio investment ### Assistance to users - Contact information: - Balance of Payments Developments and Selected Philippine Economic Indicators provide contact information for the Department of Economic Research—address, telephone, fax, and e-mail. - Contact persons are identified on the IMF’s DSBB for the balance of payments data category and the advance release calendar. - Catalogs and publications: - A list of publications for sale or subscription is posted on the BSP’s website. - The source department, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail addresses are provided. ### Data Quality Assessment Framework (DQAF) — Key findings for Balance of Payments Statistics (Bangko Sentral Ng Pilipinas) - Table 6 assessment key symbols used: NA = Not Applicable; O = Practice Observed; LO = Practice Largely Observed; LNO = Practice Largely Not Observed; NO = Practice Not Observed; SDDS = Complies with SDDS Criteria. - Prerequisites of quality - 0.1 Legal and institutional environment: marked LNO; specific comments: - "Statistical reporting by nonbanks not ensured by legal mandate/penalties for non-compliance; Law on Secrecy of Bank Deposits impacts on ability of banks to correctly report transactions channeled through FCDUs; statistical information can be disclosed under order of court or a decision of the Monetary Board." - 0.2 Resources: marked NO; specific comments: - "Severe staffing constraints, as senior staff often assigned to work on tasks other than statistics; computer resources not sufficient." - 0.3 Quality awareness: marked LNO. - Integrity - 1.1 Professionalism: marked LNO. - 1.2 Transparency: marked LNO. - 1.3 Ethical standards: marked LNO. - Methodological soundness - 2.1 Concepts and definitions: marked LNO. - 2.2 Scope: marked LO; comment: - "OFWs working abroad for more than one year treated as residents, rather than nonresidents;" - 2.3 Classification/sectorization: marked LO; comment: - "Some transactions not classified according to BPM5 (e.g., CBBOL included under other sectors, rather than government and repairs and goods procured in ports treated as services rather than goods);" - 2.4 Basis for recording: marked LNO; comment: - "Recording is on a cash basis rather than an accrual basis; some instances of incorrect netting of transactions (e.g., communication services, amounts due to/from head offices of banks)." - Accuracy and reliability - 3.1 Source data: marked NO; comments: - "Deficiencies in primary source data—impact of bank secrecy laws on FCDU transactions; significant gaps in coverage of transactions conducted via accounts abroad and peso-denominated transactions; under coverage in trade in electronic goods and select commodities; OFW remittances outside banking system not captured; transactions of OBUs/forex corporations not covered." - 3.2 Statistical techniques: marked LO; comments: - "Transportation services not based on residency criteria; methodology for trade credits gives implausible results and misclassification of transactions;" - 3.3 Assessment and validation of source data: marked LNO. - 3.4 Assessment and validation of intermediate data and statistical outputs: marked LO; comment: - "Behavior of series not cross-checked with related series/indicators;" - 3.5 Revision studies: marked LO; comment: - "Revision studies not routinely conducted." - Serviceability - 4.1 Relevance: marked LNO. - 4.2 Timeliness and periodicity: marked LO. - 4.3 Consistency: marked NO; comments: - "Large breaks in services data in mid-1990s; implementation of BPM5 methodology carried back one year; data on imports of electronic goods during 1997–99 not revised in line with data for 2000–02; implausible data on trade credits; BOP services and income not consistent with national accounts; financial flows not consistent with IIP statistics;" - 4.4 Revision policy and practice: marked LO; comment: - "Revision studies not conducted." - Accessibility - 5.1 Data accessibility: marked LO; comment: - "Sign conventions/terminology not in line with BPM5; detailed documentation on sources and methods not available." - 5.2 Metadata accessibility: marked O. - 5.3 Assistance to users: marked X (Observed). ### Summary of the Special Data Dissemination Standard (SDDS) — selected prescriptions and requirements - Data dimension (coverage, periodicity, and timeliness): - "the dissemination of 18 data categories, including component detail, covering the four main sectors of the economy, with prescribed periodicity and timeliness." - Access dimension: - "the dissemination of advance release calendars providing at least one-quarter advance notice of approximate release dates, and at least a one-week advance notice of the precise release dates;" - "the simultaneous release of data to all users." - Integrity dimension: - dissemination of the terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced and disseminated; - identification of internal government access to data before release; - identification of ministerial commentary on the occasion of statistical release; - provision of information about revision and advance notice of major changes in methodology. - Quality dimension: - dissemination of documentation on statistical methodology and sources used in preparing statistics; - dissemination of component detail and/or additional data series that make possible cross-checks and checks of reasonableness. - SDDS subscribers are required to: - post descriptions of their data dissemination practices (metadata) on the IMF’s Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (DSBB). Summary methodologies are also disseminated on the DSBB; - maintain an Internet website, referred to as the National Summary Data Page (NSDP), which contains the actual data described in the metadata and to which the DSBB is electronically linked. - Governance note: - "At the March 29, 2000 meeting of the IMF’s Executive Board, Directors approved the incorporation of a new SDDS data category on external debt. The transition period for implementing this data category expires in March 2003." - Monitoring: - "Monitoring commenced at the beginning of July 2000 and is limited to the coverage, periodicity, and timeliness of the data and to the dissemination of advance release calendars." ### User survey results (APPENDIX III) — Share of users who regularly use specified official statistics (Sixty responses) - Which official statistics do you use regularly? - National Accounts (NA), e.g. GDP, GNP, Gross Value Added: 95% - Prices: Consumer Price Index (CPI), Producer Price Index (PPI): 92% - Government Finance Statistics (GFS) or fiscal data: 78% - Monetary and financial statistics (monetary): 88% - Balance of payments (BOP): 70% - Other: - Production indices: 42% - Labor market: 47% - Merchandise trade: 60% - International trade and foreign liquidity: 67% - External debt: 55% - International investment Position: 47% - Where do you obtain official statistics? - National Statistics Office: 83% - National Statistics Coordination Board: 80% - Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas: 88% - Department of Finance: 55% - Other government agencies or departments: 57% - International and regional organizations (IMF, AsDB, OECD, UN, etc.): 47% - News media: 53% - Do you refer to descriptions of sources and methods provided by agencies compiling the macroeconomic statistics? - Yes: 68%72% (note: source lists both "68%72%") - No: 27%28% (note: source lists both "27%28%") - No opinion: 5% - Purpose of use (example): - "Analysis of current developments for short-term decision making" cited by 88%. *Source: _cr04281 - 5.2 Metadata accessibility* ### 4.2 Analysis of trends for longer-term policy formulation75% ### 4.2 Analysis of trends for longer-term policy formulation75% ### Coverage and detail - 5.1 In general, are you satisfied with the coverage of official statistics? - 5.1.1 National accounts - Yes 75%94% - No5%6% - No opinion20% - 5.1.2 CPI/PPI - Yes 82%94% - No5%6% - No opinion13% - 5.1.3 GFS - Yes 62%84% - No12%16% - No opinion27% - 5.1.4 Monetary - Yes 75%94% - No5%6% - No opinion20% - 5.1.5 BOP - Yes 65%91% - No7%9% - No opinion28% - 5.2 In general, are you satisfied with official statistics in terms of available detail? - 5.2.1 National accounts - Yes 67%85% - No12%15% - No opinion22% - 5.2.2 CPI/PPI - Yes 82%98% - No2%2% - No opinion17% - 5.2.3 GFS - Yes 58%81% - No13%19% - No opinion28% - 5.2.4 Monetary - Yes 68%89% - No8%11% - No opinion23% - 5.2.5 BOP - Yes 58%88% - No8%13% - No opinion33% ### Periodicity and timeliness - 6.1 Are you satisfied with the frequency of compilation of official statistics (e.g., weekly, monthly, quarterly, annual)? - 6.1.1 National accounts - Yes 75%92% - No7%8% - No opinion18% - 6.1.2 CPI/PPI - Yes 83%96% - No3%4% - No opinion13% - 6.1.3 GFS - Yes 70%93% - No5%7% - No opinion25% - 6.1.4 Monetary - Yes 77%96% - No3%4% - No opinion20% - 6.1.5 BOP - Yes 67%93% - No5%7% - No opinion28% - 6.2 In general, do you consider that official statistics are disseminated with the appropriate timeliness (the time lag after the period to which they pertain, e.g., 60 days after the reference period)? - 6.2.1 National accounts - Yes 52%66% - No27%34% - No opinion22% - 6.2.2 CPI/PPI - Yes 67%77% - No20%23% - No opinion15% - 6.2.3 GFS - Yes 45%61% - No28%39% - No opinion27% - 6.2.4 Monetary - Yes 50%61% - No32%39% - No opinion18% - 6.2.5 BOP - Yes 33%49% - No35%51% - No opinion32% ### Other dissemination practices - 7.1 Do you know if there is a publicly disseminated calendar that pre-announces the dates on which various official statistics will be disseminated? - 7.1.1 National accounts - Yes 38%49% - No40%51% - No opinion22% - 7.1.2 CPI/PPI - Yes 37%43% - No48%57% - No opinion15% - 7.1.3 GFS - Yes 17%22% - No60%78% - No opinion23% - 7.1.4 Monetary - Yes 15%19% - No65%81% - No opinion20% - 7.1.5 BOP - Yes 15%20% - No58%80% - No opinion27% - 7.2 If there is a calendar of release dates, in your experience, are official statistics released on the pre-announced dates? - 7.2.1 National accounts - Yes 42%93% - No3%7% - No opinion55% - 7.2.2 CPI/PPI - Yes 40%92% - No3%8% - No opinion57% - 7.2.3 GFS - Yes 15%60% - No10%40% - No opinion75% - 7.2.4 Monetary - Yes 17%71% - No7%29% - No opinion77% - 7.2.5 BOP - Yes 17%67% - No8%33% - No opinion75% - 7.3 Is there enough information about revisions to official statistics to satisfy your needs? - 7.3.1 National accounts - Yes 30%49% - No32%51% - No opinion38% - 7.3.2 CPI/PPI - Yes 35%54% - No30%46% - No opinion35% - 7.3.3 GFS - Yes 30%56% - No23%44% - No opinion47% - 7.3.4 Monetary - Yes 32%58% - No23%42% - No opinion45% - 7.3.5 BOP - Yes 25%45% - No30%55% - No opinion45% ### Accessibility - 8.1 Can you easily access official statistics? - 8.1.1 National accounts - Yes 75%90% - No8%10% - No opinion17% - 8.1.2 CPI/PPI - Yes 80%89% - No10%11% - No opinion10% - 8.1.3 GFS - Yes 62%77% - No18%23% - No opinion20% - 8.1.4 Monetary - Yes 70%81% - No17%19% - No opinion13% - 8.1.5 BOP - Yes 63%81% - No15%19% - No opinion22% - 8.2 Can you easily access information pertaining to official statistics you use (explanatory notes, methodological descriptions, references concerning concepts, classifications, statistical practice)? - 8.2.1 National accounts - Yes 48%62% - No30%38% - No opinion22% - 8.2.2 CPI/PPI - Yes 53%62% - No33%38% - No opinion13% - 8.2.3 GFS - Yes 35%49% - No37%51% - No opinion28% - 8.2.4 Monetary - Yes 40%52% - No37%48% - No opinion23% - 8.2.5 BOP - Yes 42%57% - No32%43% - No opinion27% - 8.3 Is the above information on methodology sufficiently clear and at an adequate level of detail to be useful to you? - Yes 43% - No17% - No opinion40% - 8.4 In what format do you get access to official statistics? - Hard copy: - 8.4.1 Official releases 75% - 8.4.2 Publications 77% - 8.4.3 Special requests 43% - 8.4.4 Official policy papers28% - 8.4.5 Private sector summaries and analysis35% - 8.4.6 Newspapers70% - Electronic form: - 8.4.8 Official website 85% - 8.4.9 Official database and other (such as CD-ROM)27% - 8.4.10 Private websites 27% - 8.4.11 Newsmedia websites Official policy papers38% - 8.4.12 E-mail 35% - 8.4.13 Other5% ### Overall assessment - 9.1 In your opinion, is the underlying methodology of official statistics sound and appropriate? - 9.1.1 National accounts - Yes 52%91% - No5%9% - No opinion43% - 9.1.2 CPI/PPI - Yes 55%89% - No7%11% - No opinion38% - 9.1.3 GFS - Yes 42%93% - No3%7% - No opinion55% - 9.1.4 Monetary - Yes 52%97% - No2%3% - No opinion47% - 9.1.5 BOP - Yes 43%100% - No0%0% - No opinion57% - 9.2 In general, do you consider official statistics to be accurate and reliable ("impartial")? - 9.2.1 National accounts - Yes 63%95% - No3%5% - No opinion33% - 9.2.2 CPI/PPI - Yes 62%80% - No15%20% - No opinion23% - 9.2.3 GFS - Yes 58%95% - No3%5% - No opinion38% - 9.2.4 Monetary - Yes 63%97% - No2%3% - No opinion35% - 9.2.5 BOP - Yes 50%94% - No3%6% - No opinion47% - 9.3 How would you compare the quality of official statistics of the Philippines with those of other countries in the region? (Please comment) - 9.3.1 National accounts - Better8%33% - Same10%40% - Worse7%27% - No opinion75% - 9.3.2 CPI/PPI - Better7%25% - Same15%56% - Worse5%19% - No opinion73% - 9.3.3 GFS - Better5%19% - Same15%56% - Worse7%25% - No opinion73% - 9.3.4 Monetary - Better7%24% - Same15%53% - Worse7%24% - No opinion72% - 9.3.5 BOP - Better7%27% - Same10%40% - Worse8%33% - No opinion75% - 9.4 How do you assess the overall quality of the official statistics of the Philippines? (Please rate on a scale from 1-5 the overall quality of statistics, with 1 rated as poor and 5 as excellent) - 9.4.1 National accounts - 10%0% - 23%4% - 332%39% - 440%49% - 57%8% - No opinion18% - 9.4.2 CPI/PPI - 10%0% - 25%6% - 323%27% - 448%57% - 58%10% - No opinion15% - 9.4.3 GFS - 10%0% - 22%2% - 335%45% - 438%49% - 53%4% - No opinion25% - 9.4.4 Monetary - 10%0% - 25%6% - 325%30% - 447%56% - 57%8% - No opinion17% - 9.4.5 BOP - 10%0% - 25%7% - 338%50% - 428%37% - 55%7% - No opinion23% *Source: User Survey; and staff estimates.* --- _Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/websites/imf/imported-full-text-pdf/external/pubs/ft/scr/2004/_cr04281.pdf_