India: Government to change base years for GDP, retail inflation calculation

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  • July 3, 2018
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  • The government will change the base year for calculation of GDP and retail inflation to 2017-18 and 2018 respectively, which is likely to come to effect by 2019-20.
  • The last base year for GDP, IIP and consumer price index was revised to 2011-12 and 2012 (for inflation), Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation Sadananda Gowda said here on 3 Jul 18.
  • The government will also release the quarterly employment survey data, based on the new periodic labour force surveys (PLFS) conducted by the statistics department, inDec 18— just ahead of the general election in 2019.
  • Sadananda Gowda said the groundwork for PLFS has been completed. He added that a chief statistician of India would be appointed in a short time as a committee headed by the cabinet secretary had already interviewed probable candidates in May 18.
  • Launched in Apr 17 to obtain employment data at shorter intervals, PLFS will measure quarterly changes in urban employment and annual changes in employment in both rural and urban areas. The nodal agency, the National Sample Survey Office, is for the first time using the computer-assisted personal interviewing method to capture data on tablets.
  • More than a lack of jobs, the issue is a lack of data on jobs, Prime Minister Modi recently said in an interview with Swarajya magazine.
  • “The revisions facilitated more accurate assessment of the progress of the economy and the society. Steps are being initiated for the next round of revision also, for GDP we would like to revise the base year to 2017-18 and base year for consumer retail inflation to 2018,” Gowda told reporters here.
  • Enlisting the achievements of the NDA government in past four years, Gowda said fundamental principles of the United Nations were adopted in 2016 to calculate official statistics.
  • The minister sought to discredit the debate that the government has changed the GDP and CPI calculation methodologies among others to suit its needs.

External Link: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/government-to-change-base-years-for-gdp-retail-inflation-calculation/articleshow/64845708.cms

External Link: https://www.livemint.com/Politics/7CnW51FBrvYOpPanY0gAcK/Govt-to-release-new-quarterly-jobs-data-in-December.html

3-Jul-2018