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GROWTH
has not put the individual Filipino on a par with
regional standards, a recently released Asian
Development Bank (ADB) study said.
The
study, which provides a snapshot of economic measures
like income, consumption expenditure and capital
formation, showed the Philippines is still below the
regional average of HK$20,432 per capita real gross
domestic product (GDP).
Titled
“Highlights: Purchasing Power Parities and Real
Expenditures,” the ADB study released Monday used per
capita real GDP to compare the income of countries. Of
23 economies, the richest people, according to the
study, are in Brunei Darussalam (HK$269,971); Singapore
(HK$235,923); Macao, China (HK$211,907); Hong Kong,
China (HK$202,941); and Taipei, China (HK$148,275).
Below
the regional average are 11 economies that include the
Philippines, with a per capita real GDP of HK$16,675.
This
means that each Filipino is not earning enough to
achieve what is “normal” for the region. The country is
even lower than Indonesia (which, as it is, is also
below the Asian average at HK$18,396) and Sri Lanka
(HK$19,798).
It is
also costlier to live here, according to the 32-page
study, than in Sri Lanka, if the ADB’s price level index
(PLI) is used as a measurement.
With a
regional index equal to 100, living in the Philippines
is costly at an index of 97 compared with
Sri Lanka’s
86.
Based on
the PLI, “which is the ratio of the PPP to the exchange
rate, Fiji Islands [208] and Hong Kong, China [180], are
the costliest places to live,” according to the ADB.
A PPP is
defined as the number of currency units required to
purchase an amount of goods and services equivalent to
what can be bought with one unit of currency of the base
country (for example, the United States dollar).
To
further explain the PPP, the study referred to the “Big
Mac index” by The Economist magazine that measures how
strong or weak a country’s currency is based on a single
commodity.
The ADB
said it used a broad range of goods and services that
make up GDP for the PPP measurement.
Based on
that measurement, the study cited the least costly
country to live in is the Lao People’s Democratic
Republic at a PLI of 69.
When
ranked according to household living standards—measured
by actual final consumption expenditure (AFCE)—Sri Lanka
and Indonesia also left out the Philippines.
The AFCE
is the sum of individual consumption expenditures both
by households and by government (principally education
and health) and is the best available measure of
household living standards, the ADB said.
Sri Lanka
has a per capita real AFCE of HK$17,464 while
Indonesia
has HK$14,970. Spending by individual households,
nongovernment institutions and government in the
Philippines was at HK$14,049, a bit higher than the
regional average of HK$12,878.
The ADB
study noted the cause may be in investments on a per
capita basis.
Using
gross fixed-capital formation (GFCF) as another
measurement, the ADB study noted that
Sri Lanka spends
more for its citizens at HK$3,352 each.
The GFCF
consists of investment in residential and other
buildings; roads, bridges, railways, electricity
networks and the like; and purchases of machinery and
equipment, the ADB said.
“GFCF is
important because it enhances a country’s potential for
future growth. Richer countries generally invest more on
a per capita basis than poorer countries, which is
partly why they are richer,” it added.
The
Philippines lags behind Indonesia at a GFCF of HK$1,934
(P13,692.72 at HK$1=P7.08), investing only HK$546 in
machinery and equipment and HK$1,431 in construction.
Indonesia’s
GFCF is at HK$3,161 while Sri Lanka’s is at HK$3,342.
Sri Lanka’s
investment in machinery and equipment is also higher
than the Philippines at HK$872 and construction at
HK$2,954.
Singapore
has the highest GFCF index at 996, or more than nine
times the regional average of 100, while Cambodia has
the lowest index at 14.
The
Philippines has an index of 36. |
