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According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the food and non-alcoholic drinks' index, for instance, decreased by 0.26 percent between July and August 2015/FILE

Kenya

Overall inflation in August drops to 5.84 percent

According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the food and non-alcoholic drinks' index, for instance, decreased by 0.26 percent between July and August 2015/FILE

According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the food and non-alcoholic drinks’ index, for instance, decreased by 0.26 percent between July and August 2015/FILE

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 31 – The rate of inflation in Kenya has dropped in the month of August to 5.84 percent when compared to 6.62 percent in July.

According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the food and non-alcoholic drinks’ index, for instance, decreased by 0.26 percent between July and August 2015.

For instance, two kilograms of wheat flour is selling at Sh130.93 this month while it sold at Sh135.02 during the same period last year.

Two kilograms of sifted maize flour on the other hand is selling at Sh115.13 this month while it sold at Sh116.94 in August last year.

“The decrease in the index is accounted for by favourable weather conditions in recent months which caused a decrease in prices of several food items,” says an inflation review by KNBS.

However, some food products have recorded an increase in their prices.

For instance, tomatoes are now selling at Sh107.53 while they were selling at Sh101.45 a year ago. Other products that have witnessed increased inflation include a kilogram of sukuma wiki which was selling at Sh30.44 in August 2014 but is now selling at Sh37.13.

During the review period, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’ index increased by 0.76 percent.

According to KNBS, this was mainly attributed net cost increases in respect of cooking fuels and other household utilities.

“The cost of electricity consumption for instance, surged upwards due to increases in both fuel cost adjustment and foreign exchange charges per KWh of electricity consumed,” reads the review.

The price of one litre of kerosene for instance is Sh58.94 while it was selling at Sh83.97 last year in August.

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On the other hand, diesel is selling at Sh84.30 this month while it was selling at Sh105.45 during the same month under review last year.

Despite notable fall in the cost of diesel, the transport index increased by 1.42 percent over the same period. This was mainly due to continued rise in the cost of petrol, fares and other transport costs.

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