Key Words: Improving Consumer Price Index (CPI)

Asia-Pacific Economic Statistics Week Seminar Component Bangkok, 2 – 4 May 2016 Name of author Nyaung Tai

Organization Central Statistical Organization

Contact address [email protected]

Contact phone 067-406336, 09792303382

Title of paper Compilation of Consumer Price Index in Myanmar

Abstract The Central Statistical Organization (CSO) under the price section is compiling and disseminating Consumer Price index of the States, Regions, and Union for weekly and monthly. The CPI measures the average change in the retail price of goods and service purchased and consumed. CSO is computing the price of selected commodities (158) items on the 2006 base year of Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES) by using Laspeyres’ formula for CPI. The HIES survey used stratified three stage random sampling and collected data on household income and expenditure on commodities and services (436) items from 32000 households in 80 townships in December 2006. The selected commodities includes (83) food items and (75) non-food items are taken as representative consumer market basket items to compute CPI. In the market economy, prices are basically determined by forces of supply and demand. As price have influence on the behavior of the economy, and impact on the real income of the people, a number of price indexes are constructed and used in economic analysis. Among them, CPI is a widely referred one that draws the attention of policy-makers, decision-makers, entrepreneurs and investors and which also concerns the general public. It shows the changes in prices of specific consumer items in a representative consumer market basket related to a base period which represents a fairly normal period insofar as possible. The CSO had used differing years such as 1958, 1965, 1972, 1978, and 1997 as the base period in CPI computation over time. Now, CSO is trying improving CPI to change new base 2012 year coming soon. The CPI is used as a principal measure of Inflation in Myanmar. CPI and inflation are key economic indicators, which submit the finding to the higher authorities for necessary action, within a week from the end of the month reported. Key words: Improving Consumer Price Index (CPI)