Relief For Kenyans As Inflation Falls To Lowest Rate In 5 Months

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has released its monthly review for August, the inflation rate has dropped to 5 percent as compared to 6.27 percent recorded in July, this is the lowest rate in five months.

The cost of items declined rapidly in August and this was attributed to favorable weather conditions . Food and non-alcoholic drinks’ index decreased by 1.89 per cent following a decline of 1.04 percent that was recorded on July 2019.

“The prices of significant food items (which make up a third of the basket) including sukuma wiki (kales), potatoes, cabbages, carrots, tomatoes, and maize grain decreased by 8.01, 7.81, 6.78, 6.01, 4.89 and 2.80 percent, respectively,” the report stated.

The decrease in prices of these commodities outweighed the observed increase in the cost of other foodstuffs, thereby causing a decrease in the food index,

During the period under review, housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’ Index, decreased by 0.10 percent.

“The cost of a 13 kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for instance, decreased by 0.98 per cent from Sh2,171.47 in July 2019 to Sh 2,150.27 in August 2019,” the report added.

The Transport Index, on the other hand, decreased by 0.03 percent mainly due to the reduction in pump prices of diesel and petrol by 3.14 and 2.45 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, a report by the National Drought Management Authority indicated that more than 2.5 million Kenyans face starvation as food shortage and drought worsens in Kenya.

The agency noted that Kenyans from the affected areas were subjected to increased prices of staple foods from about 10 to 40 percent between April and July.

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