Govt Won't Release Consumer Expenditure Survey For 2017-18; Cities 'Data Quality Issue'

The ministry said in a release that it had seen media reports regarding consumer expenditure survey by the NSS stating that consumer spending is falling and the report has been withheld due to its 'adverse' findings.

Consumer Expenditure Survey designed to collect information regarding expenditure on the consumption of goods and services. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: The Union government on Friday said that it will not release the survey on consumer spending in the financial year 2017-18 claiming that there were "data quality issues". The announcement was made by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation after various media reports claimed that the government has withheld consumer spending numbers due to its adverse findings. "The results of Consumer Expenditure Survey 2017-2018 will not be released in view of data quality issues," Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said on Friday. The ministry said in a release that it had seen media reports regarding consumer expenditure survey by the NSS stating that consumer spending is falling and the report has been withheld due to its 'adverse' findings. "We would like to emphatically state that there is a rigorous procedure for vetting of data and reports which are produced through surveys. All such submissions which come to the Ministry are draft in nature and cannot be deemed to be the final report," the National Statistical Office (NSO) said refuting the media reports. It said the Advisory Committee on National Accounts Statistics has also separately recommended that for rebasing of the GDP series, 2017-18 is not an appropriate year to be used as the new base year. "In view of the data quality issues, the Ministry has decided not to release the Consumer Expenditure Survey results of 2017-2018," the release said. It said that NSO carried out an all-India survey on household consumption expenditure in the 75th round during the period July 2017 to June 2018. The NSS Consumer Expenditure Survey generates estimates of household monthly per capita consumer expenditure (MPCE) and the distribution of households and persons over the MPCE classes. The release said that results of the survey were examined and it was noted that there was a significant increase in the divergence in not only the levels in the consumption pattern but also the direction of the change when compared to the other administrative data sources like the actual production of goods and services. "Concerns were also raised about the ability/sensitivity of the survey instrument to capture consumption of social services by households especially on health and education," it said. The release said the matter was referred to a committee of experts which noted the discrepancies and came out with several recommendations including refinement in the survey methodology and improving the data quality aspects on a concurrent basis. "The recommendations of the committee are being examined for implementation in future surveys," the release said. It said the Ministry is separately examining the feasibility of conducting the next Consumer Expenditure Survey in 2020-2021 and 2021-22 after incorporating all data quality refinements in the survey process. The Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) is usually conducted at quinquennial intervals and the last survey on consumer expenditure was conducted in the 68th round (July 2011 to June 2012). It is designed to collect information regarding expenditure on the consumption of goods and services (food and non-food) consumed by households. The results, after release, are also used for rebasing of the GDP and other macro-economic indicators. (With inputs from ANI)