World Bank defends methodology in a business survey



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The World Bank defended its methodology in the face of complaints by the Philippine government that the country's ease of doing business ranking did not reflect the true business climate in the country.

Last Wednesday, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (DTI) and the Ministry of Finance (DOF) issued a joint statement opposing the results of the World Bank's Doing Business Survey. 2019.

The results showed that the Philippines lost 11 notches in the 124th position of the 2019 report, compared to the 113th of the 2018 report. This is largely due to the country's credit score, which rose from 30 to five.

"The Doing Business report follows a robust methodology that is relevant, appropriate and allows for global comparability," said the World Bank's Doing Business team in a weekend e-mail, cracking down on Manila's protest against what was going on. She described it as an erroneous data collection in the newspaper. Get a credit inquiry.

"In the case of the Philippines, the Bankers Association of the Philippines [BAP] The credit bureau has been included in the analysis of Doing Business in recent years.

We are aware of the presence of other credit assessment service providers in the country, but the BAP office fits the parameters of the Doing Business methodology, "added the team.

The Washington-based lender explained that the Doing Business credit indicator covered the strength of credit reporting systems and the effectiveness of collateral and bankruptcy laws to facilitate lending .

He added that the credit reporting sub-indicator also measured the coverage, scope and accessibility of credit information available through credit reporting service providers, such as credit bureaus. credit or credit records.

The World Bank has stated that these credit bureaus and registries would meet the challenge of access to financial services, including credit.

By sharing credit information, they help reduce information gaps, increase access to credit for small businesses, lower interest rates, improve borrower discipline and support supervision. banking and credit risk monitoring.

"This year, the Doing Business team had the opportunity to travel to the Philippines to check the data and their accuracy on the ground. The data used for the report comes directly from the credit registry service providers and is published as such, "said the World Bank.

"Doing Business will continue to monitor the credit information system in the Philippines, assessing the situation of credit registry service providers in the country based on a rigorous application of the methodology," the report adds.

In the joint statement, the DTI and the DOF attributed the country's low score to the World Bank's alleged absence in collecting correct information from the country's credit information database.

This resulted in a substantial reduction in credit reporting agency coverage, which increased from 8 to 2018 to 2.7 in 2019, and reduced the depth of information scores by 5. credit.

The government also said the country would have gotten a higher score if the World Bank included data from all credit reporting agencies – BAP Credit Bureau Inc., TransUnion Information Solutions Inc. and Microfinance Information. Data Sharing Inc. (Midas), to name only themselves. little.

"Moreover, it is ironic that the Philippine score on obtaining a credit fell from 30 points in the 2018 survey to just 5 points in the 2019 survey, while credit increases every year by 19%, mainly in micro, small and medium enterprises. the highest among the Asean-5, "said the DTI and the DOF in their protest letter.

The report on the ease of doing business is a flagship publication of the World Bank Group and the new report is the 16th in a series of annual reports measuring regulations that strengthen business activity and those that constrain it.

Image Credits: Stephanie Tumampos

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