programme was not too ambitious, he pointed out that 96 outputs were planned for the biennium 1984-1985 as against 153 for the biennium 1980-1981. The Committee for Programme and Co-ordination had indeed drawn the attention of the ECWA secretariat to the dangers of over-ambitious programming, and noted that its observations had been taken into account. 26. With regard to expert groups, their function in ECWA was very much the same as it was in other United Nations organs. They were usually selected by Governments and they analysed studies or draft reports submitted to them. They then exchanged ; ... A/C.S/38/SR.26 English Page 7 (Mr. Durand) experiences and made recommendations concerning national or regional policies which they proposed that Governments should follow. 27. In reply to the United Kingdom representative, who had referred to ECWA statistical activities, he said that the co-ordination between the United Nations Statistical Office and the regional offices was excellent and that the chiefs of the various statistical offices and services met together periodically. Moreover, the increasing computerization of statistical processes enabled results to be exchanged immediately, thereby reducing duplication and overlapping. 28. Mr. MARRON (Spain) noted that an inflation rate of 20 per cent still seemed rather high and inquired what it was due to, since there might be a cause-and­ effect relationship between staff costs, which accounted for more than 66 per cent of the ECWA budget, and the rate of inflation which had been used. Moreover, since the proposed programme budget was expressed in dollars, and the dinar had fallen against the dollar, there should have been some levelling up, which was not shown in the budget. 29. Mr. FORAN (Controller) regretted that he could not supply off the cuff more precise information on how the estimates of inflation for Baghdad had been prepared. 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the planning and budgeting of a regional organization (ECWA) and its activities, with specific references to statistics, inflation, and staff costs. This suggests that the text is focused on economic development and planning, with some tangential references to international organizations and their operations.

**Category**
Economic development