Central government to make changes in WPI, formed working group
New Delhi| A working group has been formed under the chairmanship of NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand to revise the basis of the current series of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) from 2011-12 to 2022-23, the government announced. The Working Group has been asked to submit its final report to the Office of the Economic Adviser within 18 months.
The members of the Working Group include representatives from RBI, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Statistics, Department of Consumer Affairs, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Apart from this, State Bank of India (SBI) Chief Economist Soumya Kanti Ghosh has also been appointed as its member.
Non-official members include economist Surjit Bhalla, Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council member Shamika Ravi, CRISIL Chief Economist Dharamkirti Joshi, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management MD Nilesh Shah and Bank of America Merrill Lynch co-head and economist Indranil Sengupta.
The Working Group will also work on topics such as WPI with base year 2022-23 and suggestions for commodity baskets of PPIs (Producer Price Indices) in the context of structural changes in the economy. This group will review the existing system of price collection and make suggestions for improvements.
It will also decide on the method of calculation to be followed for WPI/PPI and examine the method of collection of PPI approved by the Technical Advisory Committee on Price and Cost-of-Living Statistics, suggesting further improvements in compilation and presentation. This will recommend a roadmap to switch from WPI to PPI.
The Working Group will further examine the method of calculating the linking factor adopted so far. If necessary, it will suggest appropriate changes in the method of calculating the linking factor. In addition the Working Group may suggest any further improvements needed to enhance the credibility of WPI/PPI.
If this is necessary, the Chairman of the Working Group is allowed to select experts from other agencies.
