Kenya's Inflation Soars to 9.2% in February

28 February 2023
Capital FM (Nairobi)
By Susan Nyawira

Nairobi — Kenya's cost of living increased slightly in February as households continued to battle a high cost of food, fuel, and housing, latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics(KNBS) shows.

The monthly data shows the country's overall rate of inflation stood at 9.2 per cent in February a slight increase from 9 per cent in January.

"The rise in inflation was largely due to an increase in prices of commodities under food and non-alcoholic beverages (13.3 per cent); housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (7.6 per cent); and transport (12.9 per cent) between February 2022 and February 2023," said KNBS.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the percentage change in the price of a basket of goods and services consumed by households, increased by 0.6 per cent from an index of 129.29 in January 2023 to 130.13 in February 2023.

In the month, prices of commodities under furnishings, household equipment, and routine household maintenance also recorded an increase of 8.8 per cent.

The month-to-month food and non-alcoholic beverages index increased by 1.2 per cent between January 2023 and February 2023.

KNBS noted that during the month prices of most vegetables increased relative to January 2023.

The prices for cabbages and carrots each increased by 11.3 per cent. In addition, kale-Sukuma wiki and tomatoes prices increased by 11.0 and 7.8 per cent, respectively.

A kilo of cabbage retailed at Sh59.86 from Sh53.78 in January, while the price of a kilo of tomatoes increased to Sh115.47 from Sh105.25.

During the same period, prices of mangoes, sugar, and fortified maize flour dropped by 4.8, 3.2, and 2.5 per cent, respectively.

A kilo of maize flour retailed at Sh179.98 down from Sh184.59.

The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas, and Other Fuels' Index, increased by 0.4 per cent between January 2023 and February 2023.

This was mainly due to increase in prices of gas/LPG which rose up by 4.7 per cent between January 2023 and February 2023.

On a positive note, the prices of electricity decreased during the period under review.

The Transport Index remained the same between January 2023 and February 2023 as the prices of diesel and petrol remained unchanged in the month.

Read the original article on Capital FM.

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