Inflation touched a 57-month low in February despite price increases in several key food items, transport costs and cooking gas.
The cost of living measure dropped to 4.46 per cent from 4.83 per cent a month earlier.
The
rare declined came despite expiry of government’s temporary subsidy on
maize flour, Kenya’s staple, whose prices have shot up along with other
food items.
“Between January and February 2018, food
and non-alcoholic drinks’ index increased by 2.2 per cent which was
higher than the 1.69 per cent recorded between December and January.
This was mainly due to increases in prices of some foodstuffs as a
result of drought conditions currently being experienced in some parts
of the country,” the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) said in a
statement.
But despite the increases, the KNBS said year on year food inflation eased to 3.83 per cent in February from 4.71 per cent.
Food
takes up the largest share (36 per cent) of the basket of goods that is
used to calculate inflation, making it the main driver of the cost of
living.
Irish potatoes went up seven per cent to Sh60
per kilo, sifted maize flour was up two per cent to Sh125 per two-kilo
packet while a kilo of kales was up nine per cent to Sh53. Before the
expiry of maize flour subsidy on December 31, the price of a two-kilo
packet was capped at Sh90.
The subsidies were tied to last year’s drought.
Onions,
cabbages and spinach also recorded price increases last month, the KNBS
indicates. Cooking gas was up nine per cent to an average of Sh2,150 in
refilling the 13-kg cylinder.
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