Methodological and procedural characteristics of measuring inflation in Kazakhstan: Proposal of a new procedure for calculating inflation at regional level

Abstract

The current measure of inflation in Kazakhstan presents several problems. This paper first illustrates the method and procedure currently followed and then proposes a new methodology to address the problems highlighted and calculate inflation at regional level. To this end, the weights of the different components of goods and services are calculated using cluster analysis. The results indicate that the regional weights for calculating inflation in Kazakhstan should be different from those currently used for the different products and services. The measurement of inflation can therefore be improved by adopting a different methodology for calculating its regional weights and by complying with international recommendations in terms of sampling design.