Increased fuel, fertiliser imports push Q3 trade deficit up 16 per cent

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An attendant fuels a car at a Rubis petrol station in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Kenya’s trade deficit for the third quarter of last year widened by 15.8 per cent on the back of an elevated expenditure on petroleum products and chemical fertilisers that exerted pressure on the shilling.

The latest data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that imported volumes of petroleum products and chemical fertilisers more than doubled during the period under review.

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