The National Council for the Evaluation of Social Development Policy (Coneval) announced that it will not publish poverty statistics for 2015 by the deadline, because the statistics provided by the National Statistics and Geography Institute (INEGI) use methods that make comparison of poverty rates with previous years impossible.
INEGI recently changed its method for measuring poverty, and registered a 30-percent increase in income for poor families between 2014 and 2015. Coneval and other anti-poverty groups criticized INEGI for the change, and opposition lawmakers accused INEGI of manipulating data to make anti-poverty programs seem more successful than they actually are.
Coneval and INEGI will establish a commission to review poverty statistics and present a report.
In a joint press release, INEGI and Coeval explained that the commission will try to establish an index that will allow them to compare poverty rates in different years and track changes in poverty rates over time, with the goal of measuring the success of anti-poverty programs.
The commission will also try to strengthen coordination and collaboration between the two agencies as they gather poverty statistics for 2016.
According to the press release, the main purpose of these reports is to help shape public opinion and promote transparency for anti-poverty programs.
INEGI and Coeval have worked together to produce economic statistics since 2007.