Govt releases paper on proposed changes in housing index compilation in new CPI series

New Delhi, Oct 30 The government on Thursday released a discussion paper on proposed changes in the housing index compilation methodology in the new Consumer Price Index (CPI) series.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is undertaking the base revision exercise of the CPI. The discussion paper is available on the MoSPI website and comments and suggestions may be sent by November 20.

As part of CPI, Housing constitutes a major component with an expenditure share of 21.67 per cent in urban areas and 10.07 per cent at the All-India level in the current series.

According to the ministry, housing is a crucial indicator for the overall well-being of the households not only in India but across the world as a significant amount of their income is spent either on house rent or maintaining an owned house.

“Inflation based on house rent index is an important tool not only for the policy and decision makers but also for the households. Therefore, robust and relevant housing index compilation methodology for capturing its actual movement every month is of utmost importance,” the ministry said in a statement.

Based on the feedback received from various stakeholders, experts and global best practices, MoSPI is proposing changes in the existing housing index compilation methodology.

The paper on the proposed changes in housing index compilation methodology provides detailed outlines of the existing methodology and proposed changes for the new series.

The ministry invites views and comments from experts, academicians, Central government Ministries/ departments, State governments, financial institutions and other stakeholders on the proposed housing index compilation methodology.

India’s inflation rate based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) declined to an over 8-year low of 1.54 per cent in September this year, compared to the same month of the previous year, as prices of food items and fuels turned cheaper during the month, according to latest figures released by the Ministry of Statistics.

This is the lowest year-on-year inflation after June 2017, and is also lower than the inflation rate of 2.05 per cent for August. Food inflation continued in the negative zone for the fourth consecutive month and was recorded at -2.28 per cent during September, the figures showed.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor