This archive report was first published on 30 August 2019.
The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has reported a significant drop in the country's inflation rate, falling to 5.0 percent in August from 6.27 percent in July.
The decrease in inflation is attributed to a decline in food and petrol prices, with the food and non-alcoholic drinks' index decreasing by 1.89 percent in August 2019, following a decline of 1.04 percent in July 2019.
The prices of key food items such as sukuma wiki (kales), potatoes, cabbages, carrots, tomatoes, and maize grain decreased by 8.01, 7.81, 6.78, 6.01, 4.89, and 2.80 percent, respectively.
According to KNBS, the decrease in prices of these commodities outweighed the observed increase in the cost of other foodstuffs, leading to a decrease in the food index.
Additionally, the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels' Index decreased by 0.10 percent, with the cost of a 13 kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) decreasing by 0.98 percent from Sh2,171.47 in July 2019 to Sh2,150.27 in August 2019.
The Transport Index also decreased by 0.03 percent, mainly due to the reduction in pump prices of diesel and petrol by 3.14 and 2.45 percent, respectively.
