Kenya inflation edges to 9.2 percent as fuel and food costs spiral
Latest inflation data shows consumer prices in Kenya sustained an upward trend as volatile costs of food and fuel bumped the measure of living cost to 9.2 percent in September, a 0.7 percent month-on-month ballooning from 8.5 percent recorded in August.
“The rise in inflation was largely due to an increase in prices of commodities under food and non-alcoholic beverages (15.5 percent) transport (10.2 percent) and housing, water, electricity gas and other fuels (7.3 percent),” said Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
The brisk pace at which the headline rate of inflation is picking up is unseen in five years and is aggravating the economic headwinds facing President Ruto’s administration as it settles into the job.
September’s bleak inflation report comes on the heels of a supersize 75 basis points interest rate hike also announced last week by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) as efforts to bring prices down intensify.
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Soaring fuel prices were one of the major contributors to the overall uptick in September inflation after the government rolled back subsidies on petroleum products.
Nationally, a litre of petrol is retailing at Kes179.30 up from Kes159 in new prices announced by Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (epra). The price of diesel jumped by Kes25 to Kes165 while the price of Kerosene hit KEs147.94, a Kes20 rally.
The prices of food also remained high in the month under review on account of a difficult couple of years for agricultural production characterised by prohibitive input costs and scarce rainfall which undercut the country’s rain-reliant agriculture.
