KARACHI, May 3: For the first time rural areas of the country would be covered under the CPI (Consumer Price Index) to measure the actual level of inflation.

Preparations are underway to launch a new-look CPI. The task has been assigned to an expert group headed by Dr Pervez Tahir, chief economist of Pakistan.

The group, which met for the second time in Karachi on April 29, included experts from official agencies concerned, the State Bank, academia, NGOs, the private sector and a representative from the press.

The house rent would be covered through direct rent survey. To improve the coverage, about 100 more items and a good number of additional smaller towns will be included in the CPI. To ensure credibility, transparency and integrity of price data, a third party validation will be carried out.

It was decided that the base year for calculating the CPI would be changed every five years instead of 10 years to capture the rapid change in the consumption pattern of consumers. The next CPI base year will be 2006-07.