Rwanda (Kigali)
Official title
Indice des prix à la consommation (Consumer Price Index).
Scope
The index is computed monthly and covers households of wage earners in
the public, semi-public and private sectors of the urban area of Kigali.
Official base
March-June 1982 = 100.
Source of weights
The weights and selected items were derived from a household expenditure
survey conducted during March-June 1982 among households of wage earners
in the public, semi-public and private sectors of the urban area of
Kigali with a monthly income of 5,000 to 100,000 francs at the time of
the survey.
Weights and composition
| Major groups
| Number of items
| Weights
| Approximate number of price quotations
|
| All items:
|
| Food
| 105 | 34.90 | ...
|
| Beverages and tobacco
| 22 | 9.30 | ...
|
| Clothing and footwear
| 71 | 11.35 | ...
|
| Household equipment
| 36 | 8.40 | ...
|
| Medical care
| 37 | 1.70 | ...
|
| Personal and other care
| 55 | 3.55 | ...
|
| Housing
| 59 | 13.20 | ...
|
| Transport
| 20 | 10.30 | ...
|
| Recreation and leisure
| 12 | 1.20 | ...
|
| Miscellaneous
| 24 | 6.10 | ...
|
| Total
| 441 | 100.00 | ...
|
Household consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure comprises: monetary consumer expenditure;
presents given in kind; items bartered; and own-consumption (i.e. a
household's production for its own consumption). The latter was taken
into account indirectly because it could not be set apart in the
the survey. The aim of the survey was not to determine final household
expenditure but the weights for the various items of the index.
Income in kind was taken into account when computing the overall
income of households surveyed and concerns free housing, free
electricity and water, and free transport.
Owner-occupied dwellings, the trading-in of used goods and in payment
for new goods were not taken into account at the time of
the survey. Income tax and other direct taxes, and
contributions to social insurance and pension funds were not taken into
account. Although these items account for household expenditure, they
are not consumer goods and it is difficult, if not impossible, to
establish their prices. Life insurance payments were excluded from the
index to avoid overlapping in the accounts, since insurance services are
difficult to ascertain. For medical care, hospital expenditure is
not included in the monthly consumer price index because of the lack of
rapid information on the corresponding prices; only the costs of
medical consultations in both the state and private health sectors (as
well as the most commonly consumed medicine) were taken into account at
the time of the survey. Remittances, gifts and similar disbursements
were not included because no price is given to these. The purchase of
durable goods, credit purchases and second-hand purchases were taken
into account in the household expenditure survey.
Method of data collection
Prices are collected twice a month from all markets and the most
representative retail outlets in the urban area of Kigali. The prices
used to compute the index are the prices actually paid by the
consumers.
Information on electricity, gas and water rates, medical consultation
fees, school fees, transport and communication costs which are
established by the Government are collected when the prices change.
Housing
Data on rents are obtained every month for four rented dwellings, of
which two have two bedrooms and no electricity and two have two
bedrooms and electricity. Owner-occupied dwellings are not taken into
account.
Specification of varieties
These are specifications for imported and local items, as well as items
imported but manufactured locally (raw materials imported).
Substitution, quality change, etc.
If there is a change in the quality of an item, and if it may be
considered as new one and causes the old item to be discontinued, it is
included. A fictitious base price is calculated by applying the
percentage of increase of the former item.
Seasonal items
When a seasonal item is not available on the market, its price is
maintained for a maximum of three months.
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.
Organisation and publication
Banque Nationale du Rwanda: Bulletin de la Banque Nationale du
Rwanda
(Kigali).
Idem: Rapport annuel sur l'évolution économique et monétaire
du Rwanda
.