/ . . . 2. Treatment of data 83. The problems involved in the treatment and use of the data were perhaps less serious with regard to the construction of price indexes for procurement items of a recurring nature, as such items might be expected to remain relatively stable within a period of three years for which prices were requested by the Group. However, procurement of the same type of capital goods might not occur in three consecutive years. n A/40/421 English Page 33 87. with all of the above-mentioned difficulties taken into account, the Group decided, however, upon a careful examination of available data on procurement items, to select a number of items which the Group found to be eaual or at least reasonably similar with regard to their military value. Prices reported on these items have thus been used for the calculation of PPPs for the whole category of procurement expenditures, They were, however, not sufficient to permit the construction of PPP8 for different subcategories of procurement. Items for which prices were used by the Group are presented in table 5. 88. The Group wishes to underline its view that this demonstration of a practical approach to the construction of PPPs for procurement deserves much greater interest than the actual results themselves , which undoubtedly would need much improvement and refinement for the reasons mentioned above. 89. Concerning the Group’s assessment of reported data on construction items, the Group came to the conclusion that these data were so heterogeneous that they did not lend themselves to meaningful comparisons. This was largely due to insufficient specifications in the Group’s questionnaire which led to hiqhly diversif ied replies. A list of clearly specified construction items to be priced by the contacts would probably have yielded much better results. 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the challenges and methods used to construct purchasing power parities (PPPs) for procurement expenditures, specifically focusing on the selection of items, data collection, and the limitations of the approach. The language and context suggest a technical and economic focus, without any mention of natural resources, agriculture, health, education, employment, humanitarian aid, culture, or science. The topic seems to be related to the economy and international trade, but the specific context is more nuanced.

**Category**
Economic development, International trade