The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) is the federal agency responsible for calculating the Consumer Price Index (named in Portuguese, IPCA), the country's official inflation indicator.

IPCA is used since 1999 as a benchmark for assessment of the Central Bank's Inflation Targeting Policy. The IPCA, which is published monthly, has as its reference population families that receive 1 to 40 minimum wages, regardless of the source of such income, and currently covers 11 major cities and metropolitan areas.

Brazilian ICP covers about 30% of the urban population. IBGE is planning to extend the coverage of the index, not only considering the increase in number of geographic areas, an increase whose goal is to reach all the 27 states in the country, but also the decentralization of samples to include the collection of prices in cities in the hinterland.

Besides turning PCI to a national ndicator, these features of the new PCI model, namely, expansion and decentralization, coupled with methodological refinements and revisions of cadastral bases, with more diverse samples, widen the possible uses of the indicator and create favorable conditions for the efficient development of several studies, such as the International Comparison Program (ICP), allowing the calculation of Purchasing Power Parities (PPP), since all these projects will be able to share databases, collection infrastructure and price analysis.

Also in the methodological field, it is emphasized that the adoption of statistical sampling techniques have enabled the creation of this new IPC model at the national level, where the selection of samples, in turn, has been sustained by the existence of a national database of enterprises, used by IBGE as a primary source for the selection of businesses to be studied.

Biography: Eduardo Pereira Nunes is PhD in Economics; President of the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) since February 2003, and he works at IBGE, since 1980. Before becoming President he was Chief of National Accounts, 11 years, and Chief of Regional Accounts, 4 years. He is also Professor of Economics in PUC University of Rio de Janeiro.

At international level, he was President of 17th International Conference of Labor Statistics (ILO, Geneve, 2003), President of Rio Group on Poverty Statistics (UNSC, NY, 2003-2006) and President and Member of Bureau of the Conference of American Statisticians (Santiago, 2003-2006).

He is President of Committee on Tourism Statistics (WTO, Madrid, 2006-2010); Chair of Friend of the Chair Group of 40th United Nations Statistical Commission to elaborate a Global Strategy Plan to improve national and international food and agricultural statistics (UN, NY, 2009-2010); Vice-President of Bureau of the Conference of European Statisticians (Geneve, 2006-20011) and Member of ICP Executive Board of UNSC to organize the ICP 2011 Round (UNSC, NY, 2008-2009).