Kenya's inflation rate has plummeted to a record 24-month low, standing at a mere five per cent in April.
The latest data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reveals a steady decline in inflation for the third consecutive month, marking a notable shift from 6.9 per cent in January to 6.3 per cent in February, further dropping to 5.7 per cent in March, and now settling at five per cent in April.
In March, President William Ruto's economic advisor, David Ndii predicted an inflation drop to 5 per cent by May. "We are on track for a percentage below 5% by May," he stated.
The decline in inflation comes against the backdrop of falling prices for essential commodities such as maize and wheat. Despite witnessing some price increases in certain indices, the overall trend indicates a noteworthy downward trajectory in the cost of living for Kenyans. Inflation rate is the per cent increase of basic commodities over a given period of time.
Highlighting the specific changes, KNBS stated, "The price of sugar, maize grain-loose, fortified maize flour, and maize flour loose dropped by 8.3, 3.6, 3.0, and 2.8 per cent, respectively between March 2024 and April 2024."
However, prices of onions, leeks and bulbs, tomatoes, and oranges witnessed an upward trend during the same period, increasing by 5.8, 4.3, and 4.0 per cent, respectively.
Among the key contributors to the reduction in April's year-on-year price rises are transport, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels.
According to KNBS, the transport index decreased by 0.3 per cent between March 2024 and April 2024, attributed to a significant drop in petrol and diesel prices by 2.7 per cent and 5.2 per cent, respectively.
Furthermore, the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels index recorded a notable drop by 1.3 per cent, primarily influenced by a decline in kerosene prices by 9.7 per cent.
Additionally, electricity prices experienced a decrease, with 200 kWh and 50 kWh units dropping by 6.4 per cent and 7.7 per cent, respectively. However, the price of gas/LPG rose slightly by 0.3 per cent during the same period.
Commenting on these developments, MacDonald Obudho, Director General of KNBS, remarked, "The housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels index dropped by 1.3 per cent between March 2024 and April 2024 mainly due to a decline in the price of kerosene by 9.7 per cent."
He also attributed the decrease in the transport index to the drop in petrol and diesel prices.
Analysing the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which tracks changes in the prices of a basket of goods and services, electricity registered the highest change at 1.3 per cent.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages saw a marginal drop by 0.1 per cent, while transport witnessed a decrease of 0.3 per cent. Notably, food and non-alcoholic beverages hold the highest weight in the CPI basket at 32.9 per cent, followed by electricity, housing, water, gas, and other fuels at 14.6 per cent.
With the continuing heavy rains that have impacted major transport corridors to Western, Northern, and Eastern parts of the country, commodity prices might prices increase over the next month.
Already, the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) warned that the heavy downpour could affect oil retailer's underground tanks.
