Country Presentation SAINT LUCIA

 Current status ◦ Scope and coverage ◦ Output estimation ◦ Intermediate Consumption estimation ◦ Volume measurement  Challenges ◦ Legislation ◦ Management of Public Data Systems ◦ Data collection practices ◦ Dynamic Economic Structure

 Responses (‘No more Mr. Nice Guy’) ◦ Legislative authority ◦ National Statistical Policy ◦ Review and improvement of NA methodology

 Scope and Coverage ◦ 4 annual GDP tables, 1 SUT, 1 controversial TSA (underestimated GDP or overestimated visitor expenditure.. hmm??), 1 Informal Sector Survey, Quarterly LFS, Monthly CPI, Annual BOP (no IIP) ◦ Gross Value Added in basic prices, GDP at market prices, upgraded from factor cost GDP during rebasing exercise, production account? ◦ formal, registered establishments, some degree of informal activity captured through administrative sources like the NIC and Customs ◦ ISIC4, HS2008, CPC2, BPM5 ◦ New initiatives: QGDP (thank you Maureen!), new SUT, new base year, annual GDP chaining (..hmm?)

Output estimation  Mixture of sources and methods  Sources: company reports, survey and administrative data; irregular and inconsistent intervals (monthly, quarterly, annual); severely restricted coverage of service industries;  commodity flow, benchmarking; heavy dependence on output benchmark data from 2002 SUT Table

 Intermediate Consumption estimation ◦ imported inputs/merchandise ◦ limited data on current domestic costs of intermediate goods and services; limited use and access to current survey data ◦ constant input-output ratios from 2002 benchmark data

Volume measurement  direct double deflation? Laspeyres indices (lack of a current weighting structure to facilitate Paashe index)  unit value indices (built primarily from import unit values) as opposed to genuine domestic producer price indices  Volume extrapolation (extrapolation of base year output, constant input-output ratios) ◦ Expenditure GDP  Gross Capital Formation: imports of capital equipment (BEC; CIF value, trade/transport margins not established to derive purchasers’ prices); government capital estimates, 95% of construction output (developed using commodity flow approach, starting with ‘construction imports); change in stock of inventories, not separately identified

Legislation ◦ individual, incoherent, legislative acts inhibiting access to critical data; VAT Act, NIC legislation, confidentiality clauses, etc.  Management of Public Data Systems ◦ out-dated, stand-alone, non-standardized public data management systems; varying degrees of modernization, lack of common standards and data quality controls  Data collection practices ◦ reduced response rates ◦ outdated data collection instruments and methods (time- consuming, inefficient enumerator-administered interviews)  Dynamic Economic Structure ◦ Unstable Economic Conditions, widespread discounting, introduction of VAT (impact on production costs, producer and consumer prices, consistent and regular upgrade of current input- output ratios; annual GDP chaining.. Hmm??)

Legislative authority  MOUs, Cabinet Conclusions, integration with investment/tax incentives  Strengthening Statistical Act National Statistical Policy  establishment and management of the national statistical system  data collection protocols, policies for data-sharing, data protection  interaction of national database systems, networking, central repository  legislative support, decentralized responsibility, outlining a mandate for ownership and responsibility, e.g. revision of VAT Act to go beyond the collection of taxes and actively facilitate the production of economic statistics (output, IC, capital expenditure on a monthly basis)  Statistical audit, stakeholder consultations already accomplished (involved data users and providers from civil society and the private and public sectors)

Review and improvement of NA methodology  Improved updating of business register  Sampling procedures (protocols pertaining to the coverage of ‘small establishments’, which may or not contribute significantly to value added, either collectively or individually  More efficient data collection and compilation processes: revise questionnaires, use of improved technologies (‘hand-held’s, etc); modification of E/D forms, ERETES??.. Hmm??  Consolidating NA data collection effort with the LFS and other regular household surveys to identify and measure new and emerging service activities; more regular informal sector output estimates