NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 31 – Kenya’s inflation hit a five-year high in October amid a continued increase in the cost of food, fuel, and housing.
Monthly inflation data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows the country’s overall rate of inflation in October stood at 9.6 per cent compared to 9.2 per cent in September.
The last time the country witnessed this kind of inflation was in June 2017 when it hit 9.21 per cent.
“The rise in inflation was largely due to an increase in prices of commodities under food and non-alcoholic beverages (15.8 per cent); transport (11.6 per cent) and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (7.1 per cent) between October 2021 and October 2022,” KNBS said.
Prices of commodities under furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance recorded a 10.9 per cent increase over the period.
In the latest figures, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the percentage change in the price of a basket of goods and services consumed by households, increased by 0.9 per cent from an index of 126.73 in September 2022 to 127.86 in October 2022.
Further, the month-to-month Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index increased by 1.4 per cent between September 2022 and October 2022.
Relative to September 2022, prices of Irish potatoes, sugar, and beans increased by 12.5, 12.0 and 7.5 per cent, respectively in October.
A kilo of Irish potatoes retailed at Sh90.78 from Sh80.69 in September while a kilo of sugar retailed at Sh154.95 from Sh138.35.
During the same period, prices of cooking oil (salad) and carrots dropped by 3.5 per cent and 2.4 per cent, respectively.
The price of a litre of salad oil dropped to Sh366.48 in October from Sh379.84.
In addition, the price of maize flour sifted dropped by 1.7 per cent between September and October though relative to October 2021 the prices remained high.
A kilo of maize flour commonly known as unga dropped to Sh177.66 from Sh180.80.
The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Index, increased by 0.5 cent between September 2022 and October 2022 due to increase in prices of 50 Kilowatts and 200 Kilowatts electricity units, which increased by 2.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.
On the other hand, the prices of kerosene decreased by 0.7 per cent in the review period.
Transport Index increased slightly by 1.0 per cent between 2022 October and September 2022 due to increase in matatu fares, taxi fares among others.
Even so, the prices of diesel and petrol dropped slightly by 1.2 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively, although well above October 2021 prices.
Global inflation, the war in Ukraine, a weakening shilling, and the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic have all had knock-on effects on Kenya. These have been compounded by issues such as budget deficits and poor financial governance.
President William Ruto in his manifesto promised to reduce the cost of living in his first 100 days of office.
Speaking during the launch of the Affordable Housing project in Kibra last week, Ruto maintained that this is still part of his plan asking Kenyans to give him one year to reduce the cost of unga.
