Business

U.S. Dept. Of Interior Provides $250,000 In Funding To USVI For New Consumer Price Index

The Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs (O.I.A.) has awarded the U.S. Virgin Islands a $250,000 grant for the development and implementation of a 2017 Consumer Price Index (CPI), Interior announced today. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke presented the grant award to Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands Kenneth E. Mapp during their meeting at Interior Headquarters on Monday. Secretary Zinke met previously with Governor Mapp during the USVI Centennial Commemoration in March. “The new CPI will be based on a new 2016 Household Income and Expenditure Survey,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Insular Areas Nikolao Pula. “The major focus of the project is to provide current data on consumer expenditures in the U.S. Virgin Islands, congruent with national standards. This is critical in order to better assess and evaluate price trends in various sectors of the economy and prospects for economic growth and development." The activities funded by the grant will focus ...