Kenya’s inflation rate drops to 7.3 percent in July
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Food prices slow Kenya’s July inflation rate to a 14-month low from 7.9 percent in June to 7.3 percent
Food prices slow Kenya’s July inflation rate to a 14-month low from 7.9 percent in June to 7.3 percent.
Kenya’s inflation (a measure of the cost of living) dropped to 7.3 percent in July from 7.9 percent in June owing to a drop in the prices of some food items.
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) report released on Monday, this is the lowest year-on-year inflation since May 2022 when it stood at 7.1 percent.
The rate of annual growth in average prices of goods and services was the slowest since May 2022 (7.1 percent).
It also marked the first time the rise in the cost of living measure has fallen back to within the Central Bank of Kenya’s target range of between 2.5 and 7.5 percent in 14 months.
After being heavily impacted by a crippling drought and the high cost of agriculture inputs like fertiliser that damaged food production and sent prices through the roof from last year, the July data shows hints of high inflation lessening. The continued high cost of energy has added to the burden.
The KNBS figures show that the largest downward contribution to the overall decline in inflation was made by moderating increases in average food costs.
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The cost of food increased on average by 8.6% in July compared to 10.3% in June; this is the first yearly increase in food prices to fall below 10% since March 2022.
“Prices of most food products dropped [month-on-month] during the period,” KNBS managing director Macdonald Obudho said in a statement.
He cited Irish potatoes, tomatoes, cowpeas, and cabbages whose costs fell 12.2, 10.1, 8.3, and 8.1 percent in July compared with June following the end of a long rainfall season from March to May.
“However, during the period, the price of onions [leeks and bulbs] increased 11.4 percent,” Mr Obudho added. The KNBS did not include sugar in the goods sampled.
The cost of transportation, however, rose at a sharper pace of 13.3 percent in July from 9.4 percent in the prior month largely on the impact of the doubling of value-added tax on fuel to 16 percent in the Finance Act.
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