New BANREP´s classification of the CPI basket and revision of core inflation measures in Colombia

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La serie Borradores de Economía es una publicación de la Subgerencia de Estudios Económicos del Banco de la República. Los trabajos son de carácter provisional, las opiniones y posibles errores son responsabilidad exclusiva del autor y sus contenidos no comprometen al Banco de la República ni a su Junta Directiva.

Autor o Editor
Eliana R. González-Molano
Ramón Hernández-Ortega
Edgar Caicedo-García
Nicolás Martínez-Cortés
Jose Vicente Romero
Anderson Grajales-Olarte

The series Borradores de Economía (Working Papers on Economics) contributes to the dissemination and promotion of the work by researchers from the institution. On multiple occasions, these works have been the result of collaborative work with individuals from other national or international institutions. This series is indexed at Research Papers in Economics (RePEc)

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The opinions contained in this document are the sole responsibility of the author and do not commit Banco de la República or its Board of Directors. 

Abstract

This paper proposes an update of the CPI disaggregations that Banco de la República implements and analyzes regularly. This new classification contributes to the timely identification of different inflationary pressures, it stands in accordance with international practices, it is compatible with the Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) and it facilitates international comparability and communication by the monetary authority. 

Additionally, the core inflation indicators monitored by Banco de la República are evaluated. The performance of the current measures and new ones is studied based on 10 criteria, or desirable characteristics, that the underlying inflation measures must satisfy, and an update of the indicators currently monitored by the Banco de la República technical team is presented. The four measures of core inflation currently monitored by the Banco de la República still have a good performance. However, those measures are replaced by three new measures, according to the recent changes in the CPI basket, which facilitates the communication process by being aligned with the COICOP structure and with the proposed new classification.