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THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1981

A SUMMARY OF THESE ASPECTS IS GIVEN BELOW.

THE HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE SURVEY

IT IS GOVERNMENT POLICY TO PUBLISH INDEXES TO REFLECT ACCURATELY THE MOVEMENT OF CONSUMER PRICES.

THIS NECESSITATED THE CARRYING OUT OF HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE SURVEYS AT APPROXIMATELY FIVE-YEARLY INTERVALS TO UPDATE THE WEIGHTS USED IN CALCULATING THE INDEXES. WEIGHTS FOR THE NEW CPI'S HAVE BEEN DERIVED FROM A HES CONDUCTED JOINTLY BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT AND THE HANG SENG BANK DURING THE PERIOD OCTOBER 1979 TO SEPTEMBER 1980.

THE SURVEY COVERED A SAMPLE OF DOMESTIC HOUSEHOLDS LIVING IN THE URBAN AREAS OF HONG KONG (I.E. HK ISLAND, KOWLOON, NEW KOWLOON, AND NEW TOWNS AND MARKET TOWNS OF THE NEW TERRITORIES). COLLECTIVE HOUSEHOLDS AND PUBLIC ASSISTANCE RECIPIENT HOUSEHOLDS WERE EXCLUDED.

THE 1979/80 HES FROM WHICH THE NEW CPI'S ARE BASED HAD TWO MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS OVER THE HES CONDUCTED IN 1973/74. FIRST, ITS GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE WAS EXTENDED TO URBAN TOWNSHIPS IN THE NEW TERRITORIES. SECOND, ITS HOUSEHOLD COVERAGE WAS EXTENDED TO SINGLE-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS, OLD-PERSON HOUSEHOLDS, EXPATRIATE HOUSEHOLDS AND HOUSEHOLDS LIVING IN TEMPORARY STRUCTURES.

SOME 4 200 HOUSEHOLDS TOOK PART IN THE 1979/80 HES, YIELDING AN OVERALL RESPONSE RATE OF 55 PER CENT. THE RESPONSE RATE OF THE SURVEY IS COMPARABLE TO THOSE OF SIMILAR SURVEYS CONDUCTED IN OTHER COUNTRIES.

EXTENSIVE CONSULTATIONS WERE UNDERTAKEN AT VARIOUS STAGES OF THE SURVEY WITH MAJOR USERS SUCH AS GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT BRANCHES, GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS, CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE, TRADE ASSOCIATIONS, TRADE UNIONS, AND ACADEMIC AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS.

THE FINAL RESULTS OF THE SURVEY WERE CHECKED AGAINST AND FOUND TO BE CONSISTENT WITH OTHER INDEPENDENT SOURCES OF STATISTICS.

WEIGHTS FOR THE NEW CONSUMER PRICE INDEXES

THE DEMARCATION LINES FOR THE NEW CPI(A), CPI(B) AND HANG SENG CPI WERE DRAWN A POSTERIORI AFTER ANALYSING (I) THE SIMILARITIES OF THE CONSUMPTION PATTERNS OF HOUSEHOLDS IN DIFFERENT EXPENDITURE BRACKETS, (II) THE DISTRIBUTION OF HOUSEHOLDS BY EXPENDITURE AND (111) THE GROWTH RATE OF PER CAPITA INCOME SINCE 1973/74.

IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE HANG SENG CPI DOES NOT COVER HOUSEHOLDS LIVING IN PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATES AND TEMPORARY HOUSING STRUCTURES BECAUSE THEIR EXPENDITURE PATTERNS ARE QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THOSE LIVING IN PRIVATE HOUSING. THE HANG SENG CPI IS INTENDED TO SERVE AS AN INDEX FOR HIGH INCOME SALARY-EARNERS. THE MAJORITY OF WHOM DO NOT LIVE IN PUBLIC HOUSING ESTATES OR TEMPORARY STRUCTURES.

/WEIGHTS FOR