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What is UTokyo Daily Price index?
- UTokyo Daily Price Index project was launched on May 20, 2013 to measure and publish the consumer price inflation rate on a daily basis.
Who created it?
- It was created by Tsutomu Watanabe (University of Tokyo) and Kota Watanabe (Meiji University & University of Tokyo).
Why are we talking about it?
- It is one measure of inflation that is showing rise in prices. According to the latest value suggests price are rising at 1.83% at 1.33% considering one week moving average.
- Bank of Japan's (BOJ) governor Haruhiko Kuroda mentioned about the index in his speech to defend BOJ policy success to reign over deflation.
Advantages of the index -
- UTokyo Daily Price Index is updated every day and provides information on the daily inflation rate with only a three-day lag, compared to official consumer price index, which is published once a month with 30 days lag.
- Coverage is vast as price data collected by Nikkei Inc. from 300 supermarkets all over Japan.
- It excludes the effect of consumption taxes as it is calculated on price before tax.
Disadvantages of the index -
- The products included in the index, covers items like processed foods, beverages, house hold goods etc. while excluding electrical appliances, services, consumer durables etc,
- The goods recorded covers only 17% of official CPI.
