Expansion on the Coverage of Wholesale Price Survey and Rebasing of the Wholesale Price Index
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Abstract:
The project aimed at improving price statistics generated from the Wholesale Price Survey. The improvement scheme was carried out through two processes, namely: (1) expansion of the coverage of the wholesale price survey; and (2) rebasing of the wholesale price index. To expand the geographic coverage of the survey, which currently covers Metro Manila only, Cebu City and Davao City were chosen to represent Visayas and Mindanao, respectively. The selection of these two areas was based on certain criteria: volume and value of business/trade transactions as determined from economic surveys, size of population and tourist traffic. Compared to the other cities in their respective regions, these two areas stood out in all three criteria. Inclusion of Cebu City and Davao City entailed the determination of weights, market basket, sample outlets and collection of base price data in each area. The rebasing work, on the other hand, required the updating of the market basket and weights, particularly in Metro Manila, which will represent Luzon. The project decided to have 1998 as the base year for prices and utilized the results of the 1994 Input-Output (I-O) Table and 1994 Census of Establishments (CE) as the bases for weights.
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