Data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) released on Monday showed the rate of increase of basic goods and services dropped to 5.39 per cent in January from a high of 5.73 per cent in December.
The Energy ministry in January finally gazetted a 15 percent cut in electricity tariffs in line with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s promise providing a big relief for consumers and businesses hurting from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The rate of inflation in the country defied the marginal increases in prices of food to ease for the fourth month in a row, helped by lower prices of electricity.
Data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) released on Monday showed the rate of increase of basic goods and services dropped to 5.39 per cent in January from a high of 5.73 per cent in December.
It has been consistently dropping since September last year when it peaked at 6.91 per cent to 5.73 per cent in December. January’s inflation is the lowest since September last year.
“The overall year on year inflation rate as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was 5.39 per cent, in January,” said the KNBS in a statement on Monday.
“The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other Fuels’ Index, decreased by 0.75 per cent between December 2021 and January 2022. This was mainly attributed to a decrease in prices of electricity.”
The Energy ministry in January finally gazetted a 15 percent cut in electricity tariffs in line with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s promise providing a big relief for consumers and businesses hurting from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The cut saw low-income households who use less than 100 units save Sh3.3 per unit while ordinary consumers will save Sh3.2 per unit.
Small industrial users of less than 100 units got a Sh7.9 cut per unit while small industrial consumers of less than 15,000 units would save Sh3.2 on their monthly bills.
At 5.39 per cent, the inflation is within the government’s target of between 3.5 and 7.5 per cent.
The KNBS data showed, food inflation, went up by 1.07 per cent in January from the previous month as the prices of key foodstuffs shot up outweighing the decrease in prices of others.
The average price of 2 kilogrammes of sifted maize meal stood at Sh126.31 in January compared to Sh118.71 in December while the average price of a kilogramme of kale or Sukuma wiki went up to Sh59.36 in January from Sh56.17 in December.
A kilo of onions jumped 3.64 percent to Sh127.94 in January from Sh123.43 in December.
