Issues Kenya must look at to tackle rising cost of living

Over the past few weeks there has been deep concern by Kenyans in regard to the rising cost of living in the country. They want to know why their money doesn’t go as far as it used to.

There are several variables at play here, the first of which is a no-brainer: the drought. The drought has had the effect of destroying food crops and livestock leading to cuts in the supply of food products. Yet the demand for food expands each year as new Kenyans are born.

Drought has created a situation where food demand far outstrips supply leading to an increase in food prices and price inflation.

The second variable is the fact that Kenya is an import economy of which food products are a key import. With the strengthening of the dollar as the US economy recovers, the relative depreciation of the shilling (albeit marginal), is making imported goods more expensive and slowly exerting inflationary pressure on food prices.

Thirdly, the interest rate cap has led to a noticeable decline in lending. And although the cap counters inflationary pressure, it means the small loans Kenyans used to qualify for to meet urgent expenses are no longer coming in.

Election variable

As a result, the reduced cash flow for the average Kenyan means that they have to make the little they earn stretch even further as they do not have the cushion of short-term loans on which to rely.

The effect is that Kenyans feel more broke now than they did last year.

Finally, it would not be a stretch to surmise that there are more shillings moving around in the economy due to the election.

Money is being spent on election related expenses that are not present during a non-election year. To be clear, there is no hard data on this, which is a shame; there should be a study to assess the extent to which election spending pushes up inflation.

I raised this concern with an expert a few years ago: I asked him how the government will manage the likely inflation linked to ‘artificial’ election-related spending. He told me that it would correct itself in the medium to long-term as that extra liquidity leaves the economy post-election.

The factors detailed above inform why there seems to be a money crunch for many Kenyans. And sadly, the interest cap has shut off the tap of liquidity on which Kenyans used to rely in times like this.

The truth of the matter is that there are no quick and ready solutions to this issue and short-term remedial action will not address the structural problems of Kenya being an import economy and the ravaging effects of the drought where millions, if not billions, of shillings in agricultural assets have been lost.

And since it is an election year, the related spending will continue and there will likely not be the will to reverse the interest rate cap—not until elections are over.

Government and non-government actors should take this time to assess the various issues elucidated above and develop strategies to buffer Kenyans from the confluence of factors currently making life difficult for so many.