International Monetary Fund

APD Regional Economic Outlook (REO) provides information on recent economic developments and prospects for countries in Asia and Pacific. Data for the REO for Asia and Pacific is prepared in conjunction with the semi-annual World Economic Outlook (WEO) exercises, spring and fall. Data are consistent with the projections underlying the WEO. REO aggregate data may differ from WEO aggregates due to differences in group membership. Composite data for country groups are weighted averages of data for individual countries. Arithmetic weighted averages are used for all concepts except for inflation and broad money, for which geometric averages are used. PPP GDP weights from the WEO database are used for the aggregation of real GDP growth, real non-oil GDP growth, real per capita GDP growth, investment, national savings, broad money, claims on the nonfinancial private sector, and real and nominal effective exchange rates. Aggregates for other concepts are weighted by GDP in U.S. dollars at market exchange rates.

Data cited at: Consumer price indexes, The International Monetary Fund Consumer price indexes (CPIs) are index numbers that measure changes in the prices of goods and services purchased or otherwise acquired by households, which households use directly, or indirectly, to satisfy their own needs and wants. In practice, most CPIs are calculated as weighted averages of the percentage price changes for a specified set, or ‘‘basket’’, of consumer products, the weights reflecting their relative importance in household consumption in some period. CPIs are widely used to index pensions and social security benefits. CPIs are also used to index other payments, such as interest payments or rents, or the prices of bonds. CPIs are also commonly used as a proxy for the general rate of inflation, even though they measure only consumer inflation. They are used by some governments or central banks to set inflation targets for purposes of monetary policy. The price data collected for CPI purposes can also be used to compile other indices, such as the price indices used to deflate household consumption expenditures in national accounts, or the purchasing power parities used to compare real levels of consumption in different countries.