Minister Lim Hng Kiang's Written Reply to Parliament Questions on the Consumer Price Index

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Question

Ms Tan Su Shan: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry whether the Ministry will consider revising the components of the Consumer Price Index so as to derive an index that is more reflective of the price levels in Singapore.

Written Reply by Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Minister for Trade and Industry

1. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is intended to capture price changes for a fixed basket of consumption goods and services commonly purchased by resident households in Singapore. The components and weights of the CPI basket of goods and services are derived from the actual consumption patterns of resident households gathered from the Household Expenditure Survey (HES). The HES is a comprehensive survey of the consumption expenditure of resident households in Singapore, covering around 7,500 resident households.  It is conducted once every 5 years.  The CPI basket was last revised in 2010, based on the resident household consumption patterns thrown up by the 2007/2008 HES.  It will be updated again following the next HES to be conducted starting in October this year. 

2.    Apart from the overall CPI, which is compiled based on the average consumption pattern of resident households, DOS also publishes the CPI for the lowest 20%, middle 60% and highest 20% income groups. These are compiled based on the respective consumption patterns of resident households in each of the three income groups, and would hence correspond more closely to each income group’s inflation experience. In addition, DOS also releases other indicators, such as the CPI less imputed rental on Owner-Occupied Accommodation and MAS Core Inflation, as well as data on price changes for the sub-components of the CPI every month.