Revised figures showed GDP grew faster in ’10

NEW OFFICIAL statistics showed that the Philippine economy grew 7.6 percent in 2010, just a little faster than the 7.3 percent initially reported.

The improvement in the official estimate of last year’s economic growth in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) was due to the shift in reference prices used in computing the national accounts. Officials changed the base year from 1985 to 2000.

The national accounts are compiled under the Philippine System of National Accounts (PSNA) since 1946.

Among the growth rates at constant prices from 1999 to 2010, the years covered by the revised PSNA, 6 out of 12 years were revised downward, with 2000 having the biggest revision of 1.6 points. The year 2001 had the biggest upward revision of 1.1 points. The 2010 GDP was revised upward by 0.3 points.

From the late 1990s until recently, the NSCB estimated the country’s GDP by valuing goods and services at 1985 prices. However, the prices of different goods and services change, and at different rates. The NSCB has thus started using 2000 prices for its estimates.

“Measures of volume growth are more accurate if the base year is not too far back,” NSCB secretary general Romulo A. Virola told reporters following a forum where the new rebased national accounts had been introduced.

The revision is expected to make the data more timely, relevant, reliable, accessible and comparable, Virola said.

More than changing the base year for pricing, the new system of national accounts also incorporated changes to capture more industries and commodities, as well as differentiate some of the data to better aid government monitoring and policymaking, said Raymundo J. Talento of the NSCB’s economic statistics office.

The latest statistics represent the outcome of a multiyear project of the National Statistical Coordination Board, the data producers, data users, and members of the Philippines Statistical System, according to Socioeconomic Planning Sec. Cayetano W. Paderanga Jr. The World Bank was also acknowledged as a partner in the revision and rebasing exercise.

The latest revisions, as well as those before, are important as the economy grows more complex over time, said Dr. Arsenio M. Balisacan of the University of the Philippines School of Economics.