Regular monthly publication of data on the minimum consumer basket in Montenegro will begin in February next year, after two years of break, the Monstat statistics agency says.
In the past two years, Monstat carried out the process of revising the minimum consumer basket. In the revised basket, the number of food products has been reduced from 130 to 92, while alcohol, tobacco, buying cars and vacation abroad, have been excluded as luxury.
Monstat adds that calculating methodology revision was carried out in cooperation with social partners and the World Bank, in line with the World Health Organisation’s recommendations.
The agency points out that the value of the minimum consumer basket does not affect changes in income (salaries, pensions, social benefits), or expenditures (taxes, fees, other liabilities) of citizens.
The World Bank provided expert assistance for the revision. Monstat calls to mind that the 2007 Household Budget Survey data were used in calculating the previous basket, as well as the 2003 census data.
“The main sources of data for the new basket are the 2015 Household Budget Survey and the 2011 Census of Population, Households and Flats from 2011,” Monstat states.
