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.

Notes on the National Accounts Link Series

The NSCB maintains a link series of the national accounts. The annual series starts from 1946 onwards while the quarterly series starts from 1981.

I. 2000-2003 not linked to the 1949-1999 (as of May 2003)

The revised annual series and quarterly three-year series (2000-2002) released in May 2003, incorporated the updated estimates in Construction using data from Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) from the Department of Finance and revisions in the data sources of the PSNA, which have not been linked to the 1946-1999 series. There were data sources that revised their figures as far back as CY 2000 and the accounts were revised accordingly. Hence, the 2000-2003 series needs to be linked with the earlier series. The levels in the published and the unlinked 2000-2003 three-year series cannot therefore be compared with the PSNA link series of 1946 -1999.

II. 2003-2005 not linked to the 2002 backwards (as of May 2006)

The revised annual series and quarterly three-year series (2003-2005) released last May 2006 incorporated the estimates for the BPOs/Call Center Industry, which is included under the Business Services subsector of Private Services with the availability of more complete data from the Business Processing Association/ Philippines (BPA/P) beginning 2003.

Likewise, the Miscellaneous Services of the Exports of Non-Factor Services was revised to account for the under coverage of IT-enabled services/BPOs. In addition, export of Government Services was revised to account for the expenses on goods and services of embassies and international institutions.

With the revisions cited above in the sectoral estimates as well as on GDP and GNP from 2003-2005, these new estimates are not linked with the National Accounts series from 2002 backwards.

III. 2004-2006 not linked to the 2003 backwards (as of May 2007)

The revised annual series and quarterly three-year series (2004-2006) released last May 2007 incorporated the following: 1) updated estimates for the BPOs/Call Center Industry, which is included under the Business Services subsector of Private Services with the availability of latest data from the Business Processing Association/Philippines (BPA/P), Contact Center Association of the Philippines (CCAP), Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT) and Board of Investments (BOI) beginning 2004. Correspondingly, the Miscellaneous Services of the Exports of Non-Factor Services was revised to account for the under coverage of IT-enabled services/BPOs; 2) updated estimates for Manufacturing with the use of the Quarterly Survey of Business and Industry (QSPBI) to supplement the Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (MISSI) data beginning 2004; and 3) updated estimates for Construction with the availability of more updated data on building permits from the National Statistics Office beginning 2004.

With the updates cited above in the sectoral estimates as well as on GDP and GNP from 2003-2005, these new estimates are again, not linked with the National Accounts series from 2003 backwards.

Work on updating the link series will be part of the over-all revision program of the PSNA, which is targeted for release in December 2007.

For inquiries please contact:
Dir. Raymundo J. Talento
Tel.No.: (632) 895-2425
Email: rj.talento@nscb.gov.ph