Govt mulls release of WPI inflation data 15th of every mo from Nov

[Ravi Chandran.K]

The government is planning to release monthly Wholesale Price
Index inflation data, instead of weekly, on the 15th of every month
from
November, "Proposal for introducing a monthly WPI is awaiting approval
from the Committee of Secretaries headed by the Cabinet Secretary,"
After the Committee of Secretaries approves it, the proposal will
be send to the Cabinet, If the Cabinet approves it, the data for the
previous month will be released on 15th of every month,
The first monthly data for October is likely to be released around
Nov 15. An expert group on revision of WPI had recommended switching
over to a monthly index, as is the practice in other countries.
However, finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India have
reservations on switching over to a monthly index. Both have said that
a weekly index is needed for regular monitoring of the price
situation.
The Office of Economic Adviser, which compiles WPI inflation, may
continue to provide weekly price data to the finance ministry and RBI
even after shifting to monthly data, However, the weekly data will be
for internal use only, The government is planning to introduce a
revised WPI series in October with more commodities and a new base
year.
The new series will have 2004-05 as the base year, instead of the
current 1993-94.
The number of commodities tracked will also go up to 1,224 items
from the current 435.
Till the monthly data is released, the government will continue to
release weekly WPI data.

Ravichandran K.
www.kences1.blogspot.com