Dominican Republic
Official title
Indice nacional de precios al consumidor (National Consumer Price
Index).
Scope
The index is calculated monthly and covers households throughout the
country, with monthly incomes of 50 to 600 pesos in 1976-77.
Official base
May 1976-April 1977 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights were derived from a household expenditure survey
conducted during May 1976-April 1977 among a sample of
4,457 households of two or more persons, representing the whole
population, with monthly incomes of 50 to 600 pesos at
the time of the survey.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| Food and tobacco
| 46 | ... | ...
|
| Housing:
|
| Rent and repairs
| 2 | ... | ....
|
| Fuel, light, water and telephone
| 7 | ... | ...
|
| Furniture and household items
| 8 | ... | ...
|
| Cleaning materials, etc.
| 9 | ... | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 33 | ... | ...
|
| Miscellaneous:
|
| Personal and medical care
| 17 | ... | ...
|
| Education and recreation
| 6 | ... | ...
|
| Transport and communication
| 2 | ... | ...
|
| Total
| 130 | ... | ...
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure for the purpose of the index comprises
all goods and services which the reference households purchased
for their own consumption. It also includes some expenditure on
direct taxes, gifts and contributions, postage charges and
mortgage payments for owner-occupied dwellings.
Method of data collection
The pricing frequency varies according to the item.
For food, beverages and tobacco, prices are collected each day or
week, according to the nature of item and outlet.
For housing, clothing and miscellaneous items, prices are collected
each week or month. In total, 4,300 outlets and service
establishments are visited for pricing. Discounts are not taken
into account.
Housing
Rent quotations are obtained from 604 dwellings; the estimated
rent of owner-occupied dwellings, repair costs, payment of
mortgages and monthly contributions (including insurance) are
taken into account.
Specification of varieties
Each item to be priced is specified in terms of
the most popular local name for
the item, brand, size, weight, etc. There is a list of the information
sources and specifications for each item for each city and
rural area.
Substitution, quality change, etc.
Quality changes are reflected in the index using a linking
method.
Seasonal items
No account is taken of seasonal fluctuations.
Computation
The index is computed according to the Laspeyres formula as a
weighted arithmetic average with fixed base, using weights
corresponding to the base period.
The price relative for each item is calculated by dividing the
average price for the current period by the average price for the
previous period.
Separate indices are compiled for rural and urban areas of
each major region of the country. These indices are then
weighted together to obtain separate rural and urban indices for
the whole country. Finally, the urban and rural indices are
weighted together to obtain the national index, the weights used
being the consumption expenditures of the areas concerned.
Organisation and publication
Banco Central de la República Dominicana: Boletín Mensual
(Santo Domingo).
Idem: Metodología para el cálculo del índice de precios al
consumidor en la República Dominicana 1982
(Santo Domingo).