A petrol attendant fuel a vehicle. Photo/FILE
The slight decrease in pump prices helped to
slow down a four month rally in consumer prices bringing down inflation
to 7.78 per cent in January from 8.01 per cent last month.
The
drop in inflation is a respite to the Central Bank which stood back in
the last rate setting meeting to leave the benchmark rate unchanged even
as governor Patrick Njoroge maintained inflation will soon ease.
Energy
Regulatory Commission (ERC) reduced the prices of diesel and super
petrol by less than Sh2 and the Kenya Bureau of Statistics noted its
effect on electricity cooking gas and kerosene.
The
prices of food continued to push upwards as tomatoes onions and
cabbages became more expensive outweighing the slight decrease in Irish
potato prices and Sukuma Wiki.
The
back to school rush also saw the education, recreation and cultural
indices record increases on account of hike in book and tuition costs.
The
Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) retained the benchmark lending rate at 11.5
per cent noting that the rise of the cost of living beyond its target
of 7.5 was mainly being driven by food costs.
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