Africa-Press – Kenya. Inflation for the month of May increased marginally by 10 basis points to eight (8) percent, latest data from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics shows.
This is a rise from the 10-month low of 7.9 per cent recorded in the month of April. Despite the Central Bank of Kenya’s move to retain the base lending rate at 9.5 percent it did little to cushion Kenyans from the increase.
The rise in the inflation index was majorly fueled by Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages whose Index increased by 10.2 per cent in the last 12 months The KNBS data shows that in the period under review sugar recorded the highest increase of 22 percent followed by carrots and onion at 6.3 and 5.1 percent respectively.
From an average of Sh159 in April the prices of the commodity rose to Sh194.29 in May 2023. The price of maize also rose from Sh78 to Sh81. In the non-food categories a litre of kerosene rose by 10.2 percent following the lifting of the subsidy programme by the regulator
The price for a kilo of kale(sukumawiki) dropped to Sh58 from Sh63 in April while that of a kilo of cabbage eased to Sh58 during the period under review from Sh62.
Despite the drop in the cost of vegetables, the month-to-month Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index increased marginally between April and May 2023.
“The rise in annual inflation was mainly due to an increase in prices of commodities under the following Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions,” KNBS said in its monthly review.
Further, 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 131.83 in April to 133.01 May 2023, The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels’ Index, increased by 0.7 per cent between April and May 2023.
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