THE Office of the Auditor General (OAG) and the Solomon Islands National Statistics Office (SINSO) are ready to implement their projects.
They will implement the Capacity in Statistics and Audit (CAPSA) Project and its two sub-component projects namely the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) 2024-25 and the National Economic Establishment Census (NEEC) 2024.
The CAPSA Project is the jointly funded project between Solomon Islands Government and World Bank.
Speaking at the launching of the CAPSA project in Honiara last week, Mckinnie Dentana, Permanent Secretary (PS) of Ministry of Finance and Treasury said, the HIES 2024-2025 is important in revising the household consumption expenditure component of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He said secondly, new data from the HIES will be used in updating of the weights of the current Consumer Price Index (CPI’s) basket of goods and services-accounting for changes in household consumption behaviour in the last decade.
“Data from the HIES is also important in updating our poverty and income inequality measures and in supporting programs for poverty alleviation in the country,” said PS Dentana.
Further to that, Mr Dentana said the NEEC 2024 is the first project of its kind in their development history to be undertaken.
He said this is a census involving all active business establishments- whether formal or informal-that will be counted across the provinces to support a comprehensive register of business establishments in the country.
Subsequently, the data will be used to establish a statistical business register (SBR) of all business economic statistics in the coming years.
He added that NEEC will help in the analysis and coverage of all business economic activity.
“Data collected will not only support the production of key business and market indicators but will also support source-data input in updating the GDP and growth trends, including production of the share of business output to GDP, and related business indicators,” said PS Dentana.
The CAPSA Project benefits from USD$6.5 million direct grant support from the International Development Association of the World Bank.
It is a financial support with a span of 5 years.
By LACHLAN SHYVES EDDIE
Solomon Star, Honiara
