Kenya’s April inflation has dropped to a 34 Month low of 5.27% down from 6.45% recorded a month earlier representing the lowest point since June 2013 when it touched 4.91%. This is the fifth month in a row that the cost of living measure has dropped since December when it stood at 8%.
“In totality food inflation stood at 6.84%, which is the lowest, recorded in the recent past,” KNBS said in a statement. The prices of several food items were, however, up last month including tomatoes, Irish potatoes and spinach.
Food takes up the largest share (36 per cent) of the basket of goods that is used to calculate inflation. Kenya is in the long rains period, signalling increased food crop yields, which could help cut prices and ease inflationary pressures on household budgets.
The energy regulator mid-April cut petrol prices to a six year low, offering private motorists a relief in transport expenses.
But the price of diesel, used for powering industries, trucks and buses, increased marginally alongside that of kerosene, which is mostly used by lowincome households for lighting and powering cook stoves. The bureau data shows that electricity prices remained unchanged for the third month in a row.
Consumer Price Index (CPI)
On the other hand, Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.69% from 165.92 in March 2016 to 167.07% in April 2016, touching an all time high as shown below.
However, in totality food inflation stood at 6.84 per cent, which is the lowest, recorded in the recent past. Over the same review period, Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Index, increased by 0.15 per cent. The Transport Index decreased by 0.42 per cent in April 2016 compared to the previous month mainly due to reduced costs of petrol.
Source of Data; KNBS,Kenyan Wallstreet, Business Daily
