We’d like GDP to be rebased at the very least every 10 years to capture structural change in the economy. And we would love a monthly CPI to enable more timely analysis and forecasting of inflation. We recognise that there are many statistical needs and resources are limited. But nor should we lose sight of their value.
New Zealand’s annual GDP is more than $ billion so better quality or more timely decisions that result in a very slight improvement in economic performance could easily be worth millions of dollars per annum.