Kenya’s inflation increased to 9.2% in January 2023, according to the country’s statistics body.
According to the Kenya Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), food prices increased by 11% between January and February 2023 sending inflation on the rise again.
Inflation had shown a slight decrease from 9.1% in December 2022 to 9% in January 2023. However, prior to this decline, inflation rates had reached a high of 9.5% in November 2022 and 9.6% in October 2022, which is the highest recorded inflation rate in more than five years.
The inflation rate surged beyond the Central Bank of Kenya’s guided upper limit of 7.5% in mid-2022 and has continued to increase since then. This rise led the bank to increase lending rates as a measure of control.
According to data gathered by the bureau, cabbages, carrots and sukuma wiki (kales) were among food items whose prices rose by highest rates. Their prices rose by over 11% within just a month.
“Tomato prices also increased by 7.8 percent compared to January while the prices of fresh unpacked milk increased by 2 per cent,” KNBS stated.
According to the KNBS report, the prices of wheat and maize flour dropped by 2.4% and 2.5% respectively in February 2023. Additionally, the cost of sugar decreased by 3.2% during the same period.
The prices of transportation and housing & utilities, particularly cooking gas, contributed to the upward pressure on inflation, rising to 12.9% and 4.7%, respectively. On a monthly basis, the inflation rate increased by 0.6% in February 2023, up from 0.2% in January 2023.
This rise in cooking gas came despite a reduction in electricity prices for different user bands which saw a decrease between 2.9 and 3.7 percent.
The inflation rate of 9.2 percent is now the third-highest recorded since last year when Kenyans started experiencing the impact of high commodity prices. This increase has put the rate back in the ‘red zone.’
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