A STRONG PESO has made living in Manila more expensive for expatriates, with the Philippine capital rising 17 places this year in an annual global cost-of-living ranking of cities of human resource and financial consultancy Mercer.
Manila ranked 117th out of 214 cities in Mercer’s Cost of Living Survey 2012, up from 134th last year, the consultancy said in a statement e-mailed to reporters yesterday.
“[T]he price movement in Manila has been slightly less than in New York in one year, but this has been offset by the strengthening of the Philippine peso against the US dollar which has resulted in Manila’s rise up the ranking table,” the statement quoted Phil Stanley, head of Mercer’s Asia Pacific Global Mobility Center of Excellence, as saying.
Manila, however, remained the fourth least expensive among the nine Southeast Asian cities covered, followed by Vietnam cities of Hanoi (136th) and Ho Chi Minh (141st); and Phnom Penh, Cambodia (183rd).
The city-state of Singapore emerged as the most expensive Southeast Asian city, ranking 6th globally.
It was followed by Jakarta, Indonesia (61st); Bangkok, Thailand (81st); Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei (83rd); and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (102nd).
The ranking, which Mercer said is “designed to help multinational companies and governments determine appropriate remuneration for their expatriate employees,” is based on a survey which compares cost of over 200 items in each city, including transport, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment. Cost of housing is a major factor in the ranking as “the biggest expense for expatriates,” the statement said.
New York, which ranked 33rd this year, is used as the base city for the survey while currency movements are measured against the US dollar.
“Recent world events, including economic and political upheavals, have affected the rankings for many regions through currency fluctuations, inflation, and volatility in accommodation prices,” Mercer said.
Tokyo in Japan is the world’s most expensive city for expatriates this year, pushing Luanda in Angola to second place.
Completing the 10 most expensive cities are Osaka, Japan; Moscow, Russia; Geneva and Zurich, Switzerland; Singapore; Ndjamena, Chad; Hong Kong, China; and Nagoya, Japan.
Karachi, Pakistan, emerged as the least expensive city for expatriates, with a cost of living less than a third of Tokyo’s. It was followed by Islamabad, also in Pakistan; Managua, Nicaragua; Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; La Paz, Bolivia; Tunis, Tunisia; Kolkata, India; Skopje, Macedonia; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Tirana, Albania.
Sought for comment, Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis, Jr., honorary chairman of the Employers Confederation of the Philippines, said by phone that the survey showed the Philippines’ waning attractiveness to foreign investors. “A strong peso does not make us competitive in terms of labor cost,” he said. “That is why I always say that a strong peso is not an automatic indication of a strong economy.”
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By K. A. M. Patria
Source: BusinessWorld, June 14, 2012
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