Malawi: Technical Assistance Report on the Price Statistics Mission
IMF Staff Country Reports, December 17, 2013
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- Malawi: Technical Assistance Report on the Price Statistics Mission
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Bibliographic details
- Published: December 17, 2013
- Series: IMF Staff Country Reports
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781475593143.002
Mission findings
- More than 80 percent of the country unit values selected as the price indicators for the macroprudential indicators did not provide credible indicators of pure price change over time.
- Because of the lack of credible unit-value indicators, the compilation of the indexes could not be undertaken until import and export price surveys had been initiated.
- Planned activities to address data gaps included the initiation of import and export price surveys and an intensive program of field interviews to initialize quarterly price collections.
Methodology and capacity-building
- Training provided covered:
- index concepts,
- compilation methodology,
- price survey design and implementation.
- Implementation emphasis: field interview program to initialize collection and establish time series for unit values and unit-value–based indicators.
Policy implications and recommendations
- Do not compile macroprudential price indexes based on current country unit values until import and export price surveys are in place, to avoid misleading measures of pure price change.
- Prioritize initiation of import and export price surveys as a prerequisite for credible price-index compilation.
- Conduct an intensive program of field interviews to establish and initialize quarterly price collections and consistent time series.
- Strengthen staff capacity through targeted training on index concepts, compilation methodology, and price survey design and implementation.