Missi reliability upgrade
seen to reduce complaints

By Rommer M. Balaba
Reporter

COMPLAINTS by users of the faulty Monthly Integrated Survey of Selected Industries (Missi) are expected to be drastically reduced, if not eliminated outright, with the planned reliability upgrade of the survey, discussions for which starts December 12.
           
Government agencies tasked to look into the manufacturing survey’s methodology are likewise scouting for complementary funding aside from the reported Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas’ financial support. Romulo Virola, secretary-general of the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) did not mention how much funding is needed.
           
Users of the Missi, a monthly snapshot of local manufacturing activities, have been complaining of the survey’s inconsistencies compared with other government data leading to confusion rather than a clearer picture of plant-level goings-on.
           
“We want discussions to start soon…so that hopefully we can integrate the revisions by next year,” said Virola last week.
           
Aside from NSCB, the National Statistics Office (NSO) is also studying designs for the manufacturing survey which it also conducts. Survey results are released in the form of indices: the Value of Production Index (VaPI), the Volume of Production Index (VoPI), the Producer’s Price Index (PPI) as well as Capacity Utilization.
           
Manufacturing output tumbled for the ninth month in September leading to a drop in VoPI of 8.3 percent from a revised 8-percent decline in August due to a two-digit drop in 13 major sectors such as machinery.
           
Virola said that exploratory talks are now being undertaken with donor agencies including the World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which have separate funding projects for economic accounts. “We are also looking into the possibility that the National Economic and Development Authority might fund [the upgrade].”