NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 28 – Kenya’s year-on-year inflation in February rose to 6.37 percent compared to 5.78 percent registered last month, driven by an increase in the prices of several food items.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, month on month inflation rose by 1.38 percent from 205.40 in January to 208.24 in February.
During the period under review, food and non-alcoholic beverages were the highest mover at 2.61.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels increased marginally by 0.47 driven by an increase in the cost of house rents, which rose by 0.16 to Sh4,642.
In the food basket, the price of tomatoes rose to Sh133.80 per kilogram, up from Sh103.24 percent recorded in January.
A year ago, tomatoes were retailing at Sh82.39 per kilogram.
The price of onions also increased to retail at Sh110.29 per kilogram, up from Sh102.80 posted in January.
Mangoes and maize grain were among the only few food items whose price decreased by 8.39 and 1.3 percent respectively.
The price of super petrol retailed at Sh113.32 during the period, up from Sh110.61 recorded in January.
Despite the rise, the rates remain within government’s preferred bank of between 2.5-7.5 percent.
