Kenya’s Inflation Soars to 6.99pc In January – KNBS

Kenya consumer prices soared by 0.64 per cent in January compared to December, bringing the month’s rate of increase to 6.99 per cent, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

The rise has been attributed to food price increases caused by drought.

“This was mainly attributed to increases in prices of cabbages, spinach, sukuma wiki, maize flour, wheat flour, and maize grain which were partly contributed by prevailing drought conditions. The year on year food inflation stood at 12.54 per cent in January 2017,” said KNBS in a statement on Tuesday.

Read: Inflation For January Likely to Increase Above 6.5 Recorded in December

“Over the same review period, Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Index, increased by 0.33 per cent partly due to increases in cost of electricity, house rents and charcoal which outweighed price decreases in the cost of cooking gas and kerosene,” it adds.

Central Bank of Kenya’s Monetary policy Committee on Monday stated that, “Food and electricity prices are expected to remain elevated in the near term.” However, overall inflation is expected to remain within within the Government target range.