Technical notes on the PSNA are published in the NSCB website for a better appreciation of our national accounts. Reference should also be made to the earlier technical notes for the current national accounting practices adopted in the Philippines.

Data Sources for Q4 2002

Unlike in the other releases of the Quarterly National Accounts (QNA), which come about sixty days from the reference quarter, the fourth quarter QNA has a lag of only 30 days from the reference quarter. Thus, some of the data sources usually available for the quarterly estimation are not available during the Q4 estimation. Hence, indicators are used to estimate movements for some sectors.

Mining and Quarrying

The output of the mining sector now includes the natural gas and condensate production at Malampaya, classified under crude petroleum based on the Philippine Standard Commodity Classification (PSCC). This was reflected in the estimation for the second and third quarters of 2002 during the November round of estimation.

Commercial sales of natural gas started in January 2002 but the production for first quarter has not been reflected in the PSNA. This will be reflected in the first quarter estimates of 2002 in the May 2003 series, in line with the PSNA Revision Policy - NSCB Resolution No. 8-97 (pls. Refer to the Technical Notes Series 2002–Q3).

Finance

In the PSNA, output of banks includes not only the banks’ financial intermediation services but also their other sources of income (i.e. commissions, trading & investment securities gains among others). This is consistent with the treatment for all the producing units of the economy wherein their gross output consists not only the total value of output from their primary activities but also the value of output from their other production activities.

Merchandise Exports and Imports

Exports and imports of goods basically involve transactions between residents of a country and the rest of the world. In principle, these transactions should be recorded at the point at which ownership or legal title to goods passes between the buyer and seller. However, estimates of merchandise exports and imports are based on the Foreign Trade Statistics (FTS) compiled by the National Statistics Office (NSO) from the custom’s manifest submitted by the exporters and importers to the Bureau of Customs, which records the physical movement of goods across boundaries. Thus smuggling of goods is not presently accounted in the PSNA foreign trade for the obvious practical difficulties in obtaining data on such activities. Similarly, technical smuggling (goods being misdeclared for tariff reasons) is difficult to monitor due to the same data-sourcing problem.

Last 15 January 2002, the NSO announced its revisions of merchandise import statistics for CY2000 & 2001 in terms of the FOB (free on board) values but not the quarterly FOB values and the corresponding revisions in quantity terms, and the insurance and freight for the affected import commodities. The NSO is expected to release the revised trade statistics for 2002 by end of January 2003. These revisions are not yet reflected in the present estimates of merchandise imports. Such revisions will be incorporated in the May round of estimates in line with the PSNA Revision Policy.

Population Figures Used in the Accounts

For per capita computation purposes, the population figures used in the present PSNA are population estimates based on the 1990 Census of Population and Housing. The NSCB Executive Board has approved the NSCB Resolution No.2 Series of 2002 calling for the adoption by all concerned of the decennial population census-based annual growth rates as the official population growth rate figures to be utilized for planning and policymaking purposes. The resulting new population estimates based on the above resolution will be reflected in the PSNA in the May round revision of the accounts.

Revisions for Q3 2002

Revisions for Q3 2002 estimates were done in accordance with our PSNA Policy on Revision. Estimates were based on the updated data from the MISSI, Quarterly Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (QSPBI), BAS, BOP, DBM, FTS and other major data sources of the PSNA. A table on the sources of revision is included in the publication of the National Accounts of the Philippine (as of January 2003).

For imports of non-factor services, a correction has been made on the current price estimates of insurance for the third quarter 2001.

For inquiries please contact Dir. Raymundo J. Talento at (632) 895-2425 or e-mail him at rj.talento@nscb.gov.ph.