NEDA eyes review of poverty metrics

MANILA, Philippines — The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) is looking to revisit the thresholds used by the government for classifying those who are considered poor.

During the Development Budget Coordination Committee budget hearing at the Senate committee on finance, NEDA Secretary Arsenio Balisacan said it is time to revisit the thresholds being used to determine those who are poor as the parameters were set more than a decade ago.

“I think that the changes in the economy warrant a revisit of the threshold,” he said.

He also said there is a need to revisit the thresholds to consider changes in preferences and prices of goods.

He said the basket being used was set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute.

“They are the ones who determined that basket and what constitutes a reasonable food basket that could meet the nutritional particular calorie requirement,” he said.

As of 2023, he said the food threshold was at P9,581 for a family of five per month.

Per person, this translates to about P64 per day for three meals or P21.33 per meal.

For the poverty threshold, he said a person would need around P2,759 per month or P91 per day.

Balisacan said the basket of goods and services being used is adjusted for inflation, but is constant throughout time.

“In setting that standard from the very start – we started this about 2010 to 2012 – around that time, our purpose was to measure the changes in poverty over time, without changing the standard,” he explained.

He said the government is doing this to determine whether the programs, strategies and policies are making a dent in reducing poverty.

The government is aiming to bring down the poverty incidence in the country to a single-digit level of nine percent by the end of the current administration in 2028.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed the country’s poverty incidence among the population was at 15.5 percent last year, lower than the 18.1 percent poverty incidence in 2021.

To meet the single-digit poverty rate, Balisacan said the government is working to sustain the economy’s rapid growth.

“We must ensure that growth is inclusive and that nobody is left behind. And for those who are not able to participate in the growth process, we have means of catching them up. And that’s our social protection system, like the food stamp program, for example, the 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program),” Balisacan said.

He said the government is also pushing for the creation of high-quality jobs.