The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) will conduct a Consultative Forum on the Revised/Rebased National Accounts of the Philippines on December 18, 2009 at 9:00 a.m. at the Hotel Intercontinental Manila in Makati City. Registration starts at 8:30am. The Forum is one of the activities of the World Bank-NSCB Project, “Improving the Quality and Usefulness of the Philippine System of National Accounts,” aimed at enhancing the capacity of the NSCB in undertaking a major revision of the Philippine System of National Accounts (PSNA), given the issues raised by experts and stakeholders on the quality and usefulness of the PSNA. One of the outputs of the Project is the revised annual series of production and expenditure accounts for the years 1998 to 2008 at current and constant 2000 prices.

The consultative forum will serve as a venue for discussing the features/changes of the revised PSNA vis-a-vis the 1985-based PSNA, and the preliminary revised/rebased national accounts estimates. The forum also seeks to get the support of source agencies in providing the data needed in the compilation of PSNA, as well as elicit comments from stakeholders on the improvement of the PSNA.

Keynote Speaker will be NEDA Director General Augusto Santos while NSCB Secretary General Romulo A. Virola will deliver the welcome remarks. The program will include presentations on the following: 1) Background on the 1993 and 2008 System of National Accounts, 2) Features of the revised/rebased Philippine System of National Accounts, and, 3) Presentation of the revised/rebased National Accounts of the Philippines. The presentations will be followed by an open forum. Mr. Karl Kendrick Chua of the World Bank will deliver the closing remarks.

Invited participants include representatives from the national government agencies and private companies, legislative bodies, academe, international agencies, the media and other stakeholders of the national income accounts.

ROMULO A. VIROLA
Secretary General

Contact Persons:
Ruben V. Litan / Edward P. Lopez-Dee
Tel. No.: (+632) 890-8456/890-9405/896-5388
Email: rv.litan@nscb.gov.ph; epl.dee@nscb.gov.ph