Czech CPI update to put inflation tad lower-bureau

PRAGUE, Nov 27 (Reuters) - An upcoming revision to the Czech consumer price index (CPI) could put the annual inflation rate at a slightly lower level than it would have been before the change, a director at the statistical bureau said on Monday.

The bureau is preparing to rebase the CPI calculation to 2005, and adjust the weighting of some price groups in the consumer basket to track the changing path of consumption.

Jiri Mrazek, head of the department of price statistics, told Reuters the bureau would switch to the revised CPI next year and the first data published under the new calculation will be January inflation, due out on Feb. 14.

The bureau will simultaneously publish re-calculated December inflation data using the updated consumer basket.

December will be the only month for which the bureau will calculate inflation both under the existing and the updated CPI to show to what extent the switch affected the statistics.

Mrazek said he expected the updated December figure might be slightly lower versus the one calculated under the current CPI.

"I would expect a drop of between zero and 0.5 percentage points," he said, adding all inflation data reported up until December under the existing CPI calculation would remain intact and there will be no revision.

October consumer prices grew 1.3 percent year-on-year, but analysts widely expect inflation to creep higher in the coming months and approach or even top 3 percent in January, when a raft of government-regulated items are set to rise in price.

Some analysts have worried the switch to the updated CPI might amplify the administrative pick-up in inflation at the start of next year, increasing the risk of a central bank interest rate increase to keep a lid on inflation expectations. ((Reporting by Marek Petrus; Editing by Gerrard Raven; Reuters Messaging: rm://marek.petrus.reuters.com@reuters.net; e-mail: prague.newsroom@reuters.com or marek.petrus@reuters.com; Tel: +420 224 190 477))

Keywords: CZECH INFLATION/