Cargo at the port of Mombasa. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- The cost of imports rose by 23 per cent or Sh216.3 billion to hit Sh1.156 trillion in the eight months to August, while export earnings only rose by Sh701 million or 0.2 per cent to Sh394.4 billion.
- Imports rose when the government was importing rolling stock for the standard gauge railway and, in the second quarter, when the effects of drought pushed up food imports.
Kenya’s trade deficit widened by Sh215.6 billion in the first
eight months of the year as the cost of maize and rail imports soared
amidst flat export earnings.
Latest data from the Kenya
National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows the cost of imports rose by
23 per cent or Sh216.3 billion to hit Sh1.156 trillion in the eight
months to August, while export earnings only rose by Sh701 million or
0.2 per cent to Sh394.4 billion.
Imports rose when the
government was importing rolling stock for the standard gauge railway
and, in the second quarter, when the effects of drought pushed up food
imports.
According
to Central Bank of Kenya, the worsening of the trade deficit has also
had an effect on the current account, widening it by 5.4 per cent in the
second quarter of the year to Sh135 billion from Sh128 billion at the
end of quarter one.
“Food imports rose on account of
increased importation of cereals and sugar during the first half of 2017
resulting from dry weather conditions.
The increase in
oil imports in the second quarter of 2017 reflected relatively higher
oil prices on the international market,” said CBK in its quarterly
economic review for the three months to June.
The
KNBS data shows that in the eight months to August, food and beverage
imports accounted on average for 14.1 per cent of the total import bill,
compared to just 7.8 per cent in a similar period in 2016.
Exports on the other hand were flat, with the manufacturing sector in particular suffering due to the slowdown in
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