Administrator Tomas P. Africa of the National Statistics Office (NSO) said that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) will be updated from its present base year of 1994 to 2000. This is not only in response to a growing clamor to update the CPI to reflect the changing patterns of consumer spending but also as part of its regular calendar to rebase the CPI periodically. The CPI was last rebased from 1988 to 1994.

There has been concern recently over the heavy importance given to food. However Administrator Africa believes that the current CPI basket and weights for food and all the other commodity groups continue to be appropriate for the computation of the inflation rate. For instance, while the overall weight of food, beverage and tobacco in the index is 55.1 percent, this varies significantly by region. While it is only 45.5 percent in Metro Manila, it goes up to more than 60 percent in 5 regions: 61 percent in Bicol, 62.4 percent in Western Mindanao, 62.7 percent in CARAGA, 64.4 percent in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, and 68.1 percent in Eastern Visayas.

He cautioned that this wide variability in the economic situation of consumers across regions can throw off the perceptions or forecasts of analysts. After all, Metro Manila is not the whole Philippines. Consumption expenditures of families in Metro Manila amounted to only 28 percent of total expenditures in 1994.

A rebasing exercise includes changing the basket of goods and services whose prices will be monitored from month to month in more than 9,500 outlets in Metro Manila and all provincial capitals. The weighting pattern which attaches appropriate importance to each of the commodities found in this basket will also be revised.

However the rebasing can begin only after the final results of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey to be conducted in July 2000 and January 2001 become available. A Commodity and Outlet Survey will also be undertaken in 2001 to establish the most common brands of goods and most patronized outlets from which prices are to be collected regularly by the NSO.