Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation Sadananda Gowda has said that the government will change the base year for calculation of Gross domestic product (GDP) to 2017-18, while for Consumer Price Index (CPI) the year will be revised to 2018, which is likely to come into effect by 2019-20. He also indicated that the previous base year for GDP was revised to 2011-12, while for IIP and the CPI, or retail inflation it was revised to 2012.
Gowda has stated that the revisions facilitated more accurate assessment of the progress of the economy and the society. He also pointed out that steps are being initiated for the next round of revision also. Enlisting the government’s achievements in the last 4 years, he said that fundamental principles of the United Nations were adopted in 2016 to calculate official statistics.
The minister sought to discredit the debate that the government has changed the GDP and CPI calculation methodologies among others to suit its needs. He further said that these principles are aimed at promoting good practices and professional ethics in production and dissemination of official statistics.