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DATA used to compile the Consumer Price Index (CPI) should be reviewed every three years instead of the current five years, suggested a committee of MPs.
Doing it more often will ensure the CPI - a measure of inflation - gives a more accurate picture of rapidly-changing consumer patterns, said the Parliament Estimates Committee in a report on Saturday.
The committee is made up of eight MPs tasked to examine the annual Budget of Singapore.
Its suggestion stems from what it says is a perception among some Singaporeans that inflation was higher than what the CPI showed for the period July to December last year.
The CPI was 3.4 per cent for this period immediately after the July hike in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from 5 to 7 per cent.
Singaporeans believed the inflation rate was higher.
'This perception was due to the fact that many basic and everyday items such as food have increased in prices significantly for the man-in-the-street,' said the report of the review of the last 2007/08 Budget,.
Hence, it questioned the methodology used in calculating the CPI and recommended that a more up-to-date weightage be given to the items in the basket of goods used to calculate the index.
Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Sunday Times.
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