The government spokesperson, Isaac Mwaura has stated that Kenya’s inflation has reduced by 2.5 percent from December 2022 to December 2023.
The spokesperson noted the drop in reference to a statement by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shared on X.
“Kenya’s inflation has reduced from 9.1% in December 2022 to 6.6% this December. This is a reduction of 2.5% and we are having one of the lowest inflations even as other countries have soaring inflation of up to 35%,” the statement by the government spokesperson noted.
Additionally, the statement by KNBS noted that the reduction in inflation implied that the rate of increase in prices has significantly slowed down.
“Also, prices of other commodities like wheat and maize flour have significantly reduced,” the statement added, shining a spotlight on some essential commodities.
Reduction in Inflation Attributed to Kenya Kwanza Policies
Notably, KNBS attributed the reducing rate of inflation and the effectiveness of policies implemented by the Kenya Kwanza administration.
“Reduced inflation rate is a clear indication that our economy is stabilizing, and a reflection of the effective monetary policy and control put in place by President Ruto and the Kenya Kwanza administration,” the statement reads in part.
Further, explanations were given on the reason the inflation rate is at 6.6 percent.
Also Read: CBK Predicts Decline in Kenya’s Inflation Rates
“This was mainly driven by increases in prices of commodities under Transport (11.7%); Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and other fuels (8.3%); and Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages (7.7%) between December 2022 and December 2023,” the statement by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) noted.
Notably, these three, major divisions account for over 57 per cent of the weights of the 13 broad categories.
Changes on Other Measures of Economy
Additionally, KNBS noted that consumer price index (CPI) and inflation is generated from data collected through monthly surveys of retail prices that target a representative basket of household consumption goods and services.
The Consumer price index is a measure of change over time in the prices paid by consumers for a representative basket of goods and services.
“The CPI increased by 0.4 per cent from an index of 137.03 in November 2023 to 137.55 in December 2023,” the KNBS report revealed on Kenya’s CPI.
Also Read: CBK Explains Why Tanzania, Uganda Are Beating Kenya’s Economy
Similarly, KNBS noted that the Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index rose by 0.3 per cent between November 2023 and December 2023.
“This was lower than the increase of 0.4 per cent observed between October 2023 and November 2023,” the statistics by the bureau revealed.
For instance, according to statistics by KNBS, the prices of carrots, kale “Sukuma-wiki”, mutton/goat meat and beef with bones increased by 14.5, 6.2. 5.1 and 3.6 per cent, respectively between November 2023 and December 2023.
“During the same period, however, prices of mangoes, potatoes, maize flour-sifted and fortified maize flour went down by 5.7, 4.9, 3.8 and 3.7 per cent, respectively,” the statement denoted comparisons.
