Kenya’s cost of living is expected to go higher as the global barrel price of Crude Oil hits a four-year high.
Part of the reason for the increase is the United States of America sanctions to Iran, the second largest Crude Oil producer in the world.
According to a report by Reuters, the price per barrel has hit Ksh8,400 and is expected to continue rising to Ksh10,000 by December this year.
This comes at a time Crude Oil demand is on the increase in the world while export from Iran is at its lowest.
This price is a hike from the industry standard of between Ksh5,000 to Ksh7000.
In Kenya, the price of oil has already gone up due to 8% taxation signed into law by President Uhuru and passed by the National Assembly in early September this year.
From September 2017, the petrol price had increased from Ksh99 to Ksh116 today. Diesel and kerosene also increased to KSh108.12 and Ksh108.41 respectively.
This subsequently increased the cost of other goods and services including that of basic needs such as flour, bread and meat. According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), prices of public services vehicles have gone up by 19.2% as compared with the same period last year.
In November 2014, the local oil prices jumped from Ksh117 to Ksh124 after a global barrel of crude oil hit more than Ksh12000.
Iran’s barrel per day (bpd) exports has dropped to 1.1 million after the US sanctions from 1.6 million in September at beginning of sanctioning. In April, the Middle East country exported to 2.5 million barrels before the sanctions.
