Kenya’s inflation rate rose to 6.27 per cent compared to 5.7 per cent reported in June, data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics has shown.
KNBS attributed the increase to the rise in prices of a number of items in the food basket including maize grain and loose flour, beef with bones, carrots and onions.
The cost of the commodities increased by 0.52, 1.33, 0.23, 6.81 and 1.19 per cent respectively outweighing the reported 1.04 per cent decline in the food and non-alcoholic drinks index.
“This decline was attributed mainly to the decrease in the price of potatoes, sukuma wiki (kales), tomatoes, cabbages and milk,” KNBS said in its monthly statement.
Over the review period, the government’s decision to impose a 15 per cent tax increment on alcohol and cigarettes saw the alcoholic beverages, tobacco and narcotics index grow by 0.82 percentage points.
According to KNBS this was largely driven by an increase in the price of cigarettes.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels’ index rose by 0.14 percentage points while the transport index increased by 0.22 percentage points.
