Fares in Nairobi went up following the implementation of the eight
percent value added tax (VAT) on petroleum products. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Summary
- Diesel and electricity prices shot up to the highest this year, the latest statistics show, piling upward pressure on the cost of basic consumer goods whose production is largely dependent on the two commodities.
- Data collated by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicates that Kenyans were paying 16.71 percent more for a litre of diesel in November compared to a year earlier.
- The commodity, used to power farm and industrial machines as well as in public transportation, cost an average of Sh108.97 a litre largely on impact of eight per cent value added tax (VAT ) imposed on September 21 compared with Sh93.37 a year ago.
Diesel and electricity prices shot up to the highest this year,
the latest statistics show, piling upward pressure on the cost of basic
consumer goods whose production is largely dependent on the two
commodities.
Data collated by the Kenya National Bureau
of Statistics (KNBS) indicates that Kenyans were paying 16.71 percent
more for a litre of diesel in November compared to a year earlier.
The
commodity, used to power farm and industrial machines as well as in
public transportation, cost an average of Sh108.97 a litre largely on
impact of eight per cent value added tax (VAT ) imposed on September 21
compared with Sh93.37 a year ago.
Fares have gone up
Households
consuming 200 units of electricity paid Sh4,434.48 in November,
representing a 12.63 percent increment compared with 12 months before.
Fares
have also gone up by more than 10 percent this year, hitting hardest
commuters in the major towns, who depend on public transport to travel
to and from work daily.
Passengers parted with 10.59
percent more in transport charges to commute to and from their homes to
work in Nairobi and other towns, while commuting within a distance of
250 kilometres cost 7.69 percent more on average in November.
KNBS
data shows that matatus and city buses charged residents an average of
Sh49.84 in November compared with Sh45.07 the year before. Those
travelling outside the towns paid an average of Sh431 for a distance of
250 kilometres from Sh400.21 in November 2017.
VAT on petroleum
Fares in
Nairobi went up following the implementation of the eight percent value
added tax (VAT) on petroleum products, coupled with the increased cost
of complying with stringent traffic rules this month, which has seen a
slight drop in the number of buses on some routes.
The
continued fall in global brent (crude) prices to a 15-month low last
Thursday has, however, offered some hope of a possible larger dip in the
diesel price in the next monthly review from January 15 than the slight
Sh0.55 reduction mid-December.
It has, however, not
been all gloom for the consumers with the cost for a kilogramme of maize
flour, sugar and beans falling by 30.64 percent, 7.54 percent and 7.05
percent, respectively. This has been attributed to improved weather,
which boosted agricultural production.
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