Inflation Skyrockets To 11.48 Percent; Should Kenyans Be Worried?

The overall inflation for the month of April in Kenya hit a one-time historical high of 11.48 percent according to the report released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

According to the data released, the Consumer Price Indices (CPI) increased by 1.79 percent from 182.98 in March 2017 to 186.24 in April 2017.

Between the month of March and April 2017, Food and Non-Alcoholic Drinks’ Index increased by 3.55 percent mainly attributed to increase in prices of several food items including, Sukuma wiki, spinach, maize flour, milk, potatoes, cabbages, onions and maize grain. The increase in food prices was partly contributed by prevailing drought conditions.

The year on year food inflation stood at 20.98 percent in April 2017. Despite a notable fall in the cost of kerosene, Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ index, increased by 0.63 percent partly due to increases in cost of house rents, other cooking fuels and water services.

The increase observed in the cost of electricity was mainly attributed to higher foreign exchange adjustment charges per KWh of electricity consumed in April 2017. Over the same review period, the Transport Index decreased by 0.22 per cent in April compared to March 2017. This was mainly on account of decrease in the pump prices of petrol and diesel.