The Ghana Statistical Service is expected to start using a revised basket of goods in calculating inflation from February next year.

It follows a review of the basket used in measuring the inflation rate. This has seen the number of goods and services used in calculating the inflation figure increase to 272 from the current 242 items.

The basket is a representation of the goods and services consumed by the population. Thirty new items have been added, putting the basket size at 272.

The Statistical Service has already started collecting prices for all the items to ensure that it’s able to produce a consumer price index using the new basket.

According to the service, it needs to gather the values of these new items for at least one year before using it.

The service has also reviewed the weights given to all the new items to reflect the current expenditure partners of consumers. These include the non-food items, such as transportation, communication, and health, which accounts for almost 57 percent of the goods and services in the new basket, whiles food items will take the remaining 43 percent.

Head of Economic Statistics at the Ghana Statistical Service however tells Joy Business the review might not necessarily result in any drastic change in the inflation figure from next year.

Just like the rebasing of the country’s GDP estimates which put the value of the economy at 59 billion Ghana cedis, the review of the basket used in producing Consumer Price Index or inflation is to ensure that the figures better reflect what pertains on the market. The service has also reviewed the base year for calculating inflation from 2002 to 2011.

Meanwhile, the Ghana Statistical Service has carried out its final review of the selected items for the basket with stakeholders. This included political think tanks, civil society groups and some selected economists. The meeting is to ensure that all these stakeholders appreciate the process of developing and producing the new consumer price index.