All countries produce a consumer price index to track national price level changes. The price statistics team at ESCWA has developed a Harmonized Consumer Price Index (HCPI) for the entire Arab region, as well as for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region separately. The HCPI enables the spatial comparison of inflation levels between countries and the computation of a single inflation measure for the region or groups of countries, thus guiding policymakers by providing valuable indicators. Given the success of the pilot phase, a second phase was launched for the construction of an HCPI for GCC member countries. The final phase will cover the whole Arab region.
This training workshop consists of:
- Introduction of the conceptual framework for construction of a HCPI
- The importance and benefits of the HCPI
- Overview of the data requirements for the computation of the HCPI
- Construction of the national harmonized item lists and the harmonization strategy
- Detailed explanation of the HCPI computation methodology at the national level
- Overview of the HCPI computation methodology at the regional level
- Discussion on the dissemination strategy
- Demonstration of a numerical example of the computation methodology
- Hands-on training on the application of the computation methodology
- Demonstration of the national HCPI computation templates developed by ESCWA
- Training on the use of the developed templates
- Development of a workplan and agreement on a project timetable
UN-House, Beirut, Lebanon
