Expanding the Geographic Coverage of Selected Price Indices
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Abstract:
The Philippine Statistical System (PSS) maintains seven major series of price indices. These are the consumer price index (CPI), general wholesale price index (GWPI), producer price index (PPI) for agriculture and manufacturing, wholesale price index for construction materials (CMWPI), general retail price index (GRPI), and retail price index for selected construction materials (CMRPI). These price indices have varying disaggregation where some are comprehensive while others are limited. The disaggregation is dependent on the geographic coverage of surveys that gather data on said prices. The 2005-2010 Philippine Statistical Development Plan (2005-2010 PSDP) recognizes the need to generate price index with regional/key city breakdown. Given this need, this study determined the feasibility of expanding the geographic coverage of four price indices (PPI for manufacturing, CMWPI, GRPI CMRPI) for sub-national disaggregation. The history of these indices were traced to gather more understanding of their current disaggregation. Also, the requirements for the expansion of the geographic coverage were studied to realize its demand and usefulness for the major users of the indices.
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