The inflation rate for the month of April, 2020 has increased to 5.62 percent from 5.51 percent recorded in March according to the new stats by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
According to KNBS, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased from 107.00 in the month of March to 107.92 in the month of April, 2020, an increase of 0.86 percent.
The month of April has been under pressure from the deadly Coronavirus that is sweeping across the world and hitting hard on economies.
In cash, the price of foodstuffs has moved through the roof, same as that of transport as the government moved to limit the number of passengers in a vehicle.
During the month of April, the price of bus/Matatu fare increased by 66.7 percent while that of electricity increased by 0.9 percent.
Interestingly, KNBS says that the price of cooking gas dropped by 0.9 percent. On the contrary, the price of refilling cooking gas cylinders increases tremendously during the month.
The price of Diesel and Petrol reduced by 4.4 and 12.8 percent respectively while that of kerosene reduced by 23.7 percent. For the fort time, the price of a liter of Super Petrol was lower than that of Diesel in Kenya.
The drop of fuel prices in Kenya was as a result of the drop of global crude oil prices following a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia as well as the effects of Covid-19.
The price of carrots and Sukuma wiki increased by 18.9 and 12.9 percent respectively. The price of loose maize flour increased by 17.1 percent while that of beans increased by 17.9 percent.
The price of loose maize grains increased by 18.0 percent while that of onions increased by 24.2 percent. The price of maize is likely to continue rising across the country according to various market analysts.
In Bungoma and Kakamega, the price of a 90-kilogram of maize is retailing between 4,000 and 4,200 shillings, up from 3,800 shillings a month ago.