The rebasing of the consumer price index is set to see an increase in the price basket from 267 to approximately 400 items.
Of the figure, 238 items of the old pricing basket still remain in the new pricing basket.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures the change over time in the general price level of goods and services that households acquire for the purpose of consumption with reference to the price level in 2012, the base year, which has an index of 100.
In a media interaction on the latest development, the Director of Economic Statistic Directorate, Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), Mr. Asuo Afram said the rebasing has become necessary due to changes in the consumption pattern in the country.
“Anytime there is a change in consumption pattern, we need to rebase the CPI to reflect the actual consumption of goods and services,” Afram explained.
The outcome of the rebasing, which has 2017 as the base year, is expected to be announced this month.
Coverage for the data collection, from a selected sample, has been increased from 42 to 44 markets in the country, including both the regional, urban and rural markets.
Further to this, under the new base year, urban data collection coverage increased to 15 from 10 markets, whereas the rural data collection coverage declined from 32 to 29 markets.
There have been some improvements as a result of the rebasing. This includes; the improvement in the codebooks for each market, and the use of electronic devices for data collection, among others.
Afram noted that, GSS is looking at possibly having the rebasing done yearly.
By Joshua W. Amlanu