Kenya’s Inflation rate falls to 10-month low of 7.9 percent

By Victor MUJIDU

Kenya’s cost of living measure eased in April to a 10-month low on moderation in growth in food prices following the onset of long rains, which has boosted the production of select vegetables.

Inflation — a measure of the cost of living over the last 12 months— dropped to 7.9 percent from 9.2 percent in March, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reported Friday.

Households’ budgets on food grew at a slower rate of 10.1 percent year-on-year in April compared with 13.4 prevent the month before, KNBS data shows.

The growth in inflation is the slowest since June 2022, when it stood at the same level.

“The housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’ index increased by 2.7 percent between March 2023 and April 2023. This was mainly due to increase in prices of electricity, which increased 18.7 percent for 50 kilowatts and 13.7 percent for 200 kilowatts,” KNBS said.

Food usually has the biggest impact on the overall movement in prices because it accounts for nearly a third of the shopping basket for Kenyan families.

The growth in average food prices was the slowest since March 2022 at 9.9 percent, the data shows.

“The prices of (Irish) potatoes, beans and mangoes increased by 7.2, 5.0 and 3.5 percent, respectively, between March and April 2023.

“During the same period, prices of spinach, sukuma wiki (kale) and tomatoes declined by 12.6, 11.8 and 4.7 percent, respectively.”

The rise in average cost of transportation in April also eased year-year to 9.8 percent in April from 12.6 percent the month before, while it edged 0.2 percent month-on-month.

President William Ruto, who took power in September partly on a campaign platform of easing the cost of living for the majority poor households, has ruled out short-term fixes, dropping subsidies on unga and super petrol.

The Ruto administration has, however, denied consumers of super petrol a price drop since October, cash which it has since used to subsidise the purchase of diesel while maintaining the cushion on kerosene.

The inflation, however, remained above the upper target of 7.5 percent.