XN000022-1994-09-27 — Page 7

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1994

THE CPI IS A MAIN ECONOMIC INDICATOR TO MEASURE CHANGES IN THE PRICE LEVEL OF THE GOODS AND SERVICES THAT HOUSEHOLDS PURCHASE. IT IS WIDELY USED IN ECONOMIC ANALYSES BY BOTH GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE ORGANISATIONS AS AN IMPORTANT INDICATOR OF INFLATION FACED BY CONSUMERS. SOME EMPLOYERS ALSO USE IT AS A REFERENCE IN ADJUSTING SALARIES, WAGES AND VARIOUS LIVING ALLOWANCES.

MR HO EXPLAINED: "THREE DIFFERENT CPI SERIES, WHICH REFER TO HOUSEHOLDS IN DIFFERENT EXPENDITURE RANGES, ARE CURRENTLY COMPILED IN HONG KONG.

THE CPI(A) AND CPI (B), WHICH REFER TO HOUSEHOLDS IN THE RELATIVELY LOW AND THE MEDIUM EXPENDITURE RANGES, ARE COMPILED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT.

THE HANG SENG CPI, WHICH REFERS TO HOUSEHOLDS IN THE RELATIVELY HIGH EXPENDITURE RANGE, IS COMPILED BY THE HANG SENG BANK,

BASED ON THE EXPENDITURE PATTERN OF ALL THESE HOUSEHOLDS TAKEN TOGETHER, A COMPOSITE CPI IS COMPILED BY THE CENSUS AND STATISTICS DEPARTMENT TO REFLECT THE IMPACT OF CONSUMER PRICE CHANGES ON HOUSEHOLDS AS A WHOLE.

"THE SURVEY RESULTS WILL BE ANALYSED IN LATE 1995 OR EARLY 1996. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE NEW CPI SERIES WILL

BE PUBLISHED BY APRIL 1996," HE SAID.

A SAMPLE OF ABOUT 9,000 LIVING QUARTERS HAS BEEN RANDOMLY SELECTED FROM ALL LIVING QUARTERS IN HONG KONG. HOUSEHOLDS IN THE SELECTED LIVING QUARTERS WILL BE REQUESTED TO KEEP RECORDS OF ALL EXPENSES FOR A SPECIFIED PERIOD OF 14 DAYS.

IN THIS ROUND OF THE HES, MORE DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE CONSUMPTION PATTERNS OF HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS WILL BE COLLECTED FROM SOME HOUSEHOLDS TO FACILITATE MORE IN-DEPTH ANALYSES AND STUDIES OF HOUSEHOLD CONSUMPTION PATTERNS.

SAMPLED

BEFORE EACH SURVEY CYCLE, LETTERS WILL BE SENT TO THE LIVING QUARTERS INFORMING HOUSEHOLDS THEREIN ABOUT THE DETAILS OF THE SURVEY. EACH LETTER WILL CONTAIN THE NAME OF AN INTERVIEWER.

ABOUT ONE WEEK AFTER DESPATCH OF THE LETTER, INTERVIEWERS WILL ON THE HOUSEHOLDS AND REQUEST THE HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SURVEY.

CALL

3).

SINCE THE FIRST SURVEY CYCLE WILL START NEXT MONDAY (OCTOBER THE FIRST BATCH OF LETTERS HAVE ALREADY BEEN DESPATCHED.

WHEN CALLING ON A HOUSEHOLD, AN INTERVIEWER WILL CARRY WITH HIM AN IDENTITY CARD WHICH WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR INSPECTION. HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS SHOULD CAREFULLY CHECK THE IDENTITY OF THE INTERVIEWERS INCLUDING THE CHECKING OF THEIR PERSONAL HONG KONG IDENTITY CARDS NECESSARY.

IF

"THE QUESTIONNAIRE USED IN THE SURVEY WILL BE DESIGNED IN THE FORM OF AN EXPENDITURE DIARY. HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS WILL NEED TO SPEND ONLY A FEW MINUTES A DAY TO COMPLETE THE RECORDING

OF THEIR DAILY EXPENDITURE AND INTERVIEWERS WILL RENDER ASSISTANCE AS NECESSARY, HO SAID.

*

MR

/THE HANG