By Stellamaries Amuwa
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Thursday disclosed that it was poised to rebase the Gross Domestic Product and Consumer Prices Index.
At a sensitization of media executives on the Nigerian Living Standards, the Statistician General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer, NBS, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, who took the media executives through what he described as “important engagement on the three critical exercises that have been undertaken by the National Bureau of Statistics, the Nigerian Living Standards Survey (NLSS) 2022/23, and the Rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Consumer Prices Index (CPI)”, said it would soin be unveiled.
According to him, “the rebasing of GDP and CPI ensures that our economic data aligns with international best practices and captures the dynamic sectors and activities within our economy”.
He explained that the NLSS provides invaluable insights into household welfare, consumption, and expenditure, enabling us to measure the national poverty headline rate and other essential indicators.
“For information and clarity, the NLSS is the survey under which the national poverty headline rate is generated, along with other useful household welfare, consumption, and expenditure indicators.
“This year-long survey is conducted every four to five years, with the penultimate round conducted in 2018/2019, and published in 2020, which produced a headline poverty rate of 40.1 percent.
“The methodology for computing the estimates requires enumerators to visit selected households across the country to record their consumption and expenditure, through a 7-day recall process.
“This data collection is done for a year to enable the capture of seasonal variations in household consumption and expenditure.
“The information collected at the end of the 12 months is then aggregated and appropriately weighted to generate the total national consumption,” he said.
He added that “the CPI rebasing entails bringing the weight and price reference periods closer to the current period (Current Consumption Pattern), which is expected to be done every five years.
“The rebasing of Gross domestic product (GDP) is the process of replacing an old base year with a new/more recent base year which is known as the reference period to keep up with the evolution in prices.
“GDP rebasing offers significant benefits by aligning economic data with the current realities of the economy.
“It improves the accuracy of growth measurements, supports better policymaking, and enhances the credibility of economic data both domestically and internationally”.
Other key staff of the NBS, Mr. Ishaku Maigida, Director, Prices and Trade Statistics Department; Mr. Shamsudeen Lawal, Head Prices Statistics Division and Mr. David Babalola, Director, National Accounts, Energy and Environmental Statistics Department, provided insight on the statistical parameters deployed in obtaining the data, stressing that they met international best practices.
“As critical partners in the data production process, we want the media to become a strong voice and advocate of the work you see going on in the Bureau and within the Statistical System in the country.
“We want your reportage to be accurate, objective, and sound, to help build the confidence and trust of the public in what we do.
“On our part, we will continue to remain objective, open, transparent, and professional in our work, as that is the only currency that we have as the national statistical agency for the country,” they stated.
