NSCB Resolution No. 9
Series of 2000

COMPUTATION OF ANNUAL POVERTY THRESHOLDS IN-BETWEEN FIES YEARS AND MEASURES OF THE DEPTH AND SEVERITY OF POVERTY

WHEREAS, the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan 1999-2004 or Angat Pinoy 2004 states that the main goal of our development planning efforts is to achieve sustainable development and growth with social equity;

WHEREAS, the attainment of this vision and how it translates into an improved quality of life for the Filipinos will be largely measured by a reduction in poverty especially in the rural areas and an improvement in the distribution of income;

WHEREAS, poverty statistics compiled by the NSCB are used as the official measure to assess the attainment of the goal of poverty reduction;

WHEREAS, official poverty statistics presently available refer only to poverty thresholds and poverty incidences at the regional level and are only available every three years as these are based on the triennial Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES);

WHEREAS, there is a need to come up with other poverty indicators to assess the depth and severity of poverty as measured by the poverty gap, income gap and the Foster Greer Thorbecke (FGT) index;

WHEREAS, the availability of an established methodology in the literature on the computation of the poverty gap, income gap and the FGT index will pose no problem on the inclusion of these measures in the set of designated statistics on poverty;

WHEREAS, there is also a need to provide annual food and poverty thresholds as these are useful for targeting and planning purposes;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AS IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the Board approve the recommendation for the NSCB Technical Staff to compile annual food and poverty thresholds and that the computation of the poverty gap, income gap and the FGT index be made regular features of official poverty statistics.

Approved this 4th day of December 2000, in Pasig City.