Power, Food Prices Increase; Inflation Unchanged, KNBS Reports
Electricity and some essential goods cost a little bit more in Kenya between September and October, according to the latest Consumer Price Index and Inflation Report from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS).
The agency pretty much said that folks who use 200 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity saw their bills go up from Ksh5,597 in September to Ksh5,764 in October. Those on a smaller power plan, 50kwh, saw a slightly smaller price hike, from Ksh1,274 to Ksh1,315.
The report also threw up a few mixed trends in food prices during that period. KNBS pointed out that seven key foods – Irish potatoes, beef, tomatoes, cabbages, mangoes, onions and oranges – all saw price increases. Oranges went up by a pretty big 4.2 percent jump, going from Ksh110.84 to Ksh115.54. Irish potatoes are up by 1.6 percent, beef with bones up 0.5 percent, tomatoes by 1.2 percent, mangoes by 3.8 percent, onions by 1.4 percent and cabbages by 0.9 percent.
On the other hand, some staple foods actually dropped in price. Sifted and fortified maize flour went down 2.3 and 2.2 percent respectively. Eggs, kale (or as some folks would call it, sukuma wiki), beans and sugar all declined a little bit, with decreases ranging from 0.5 to 1.2 percent.
Transportation costs were pretty mixed too. International flight fares fell a bit, by 0.6 percent, while petrol and diesel prices stayed the same. But fares for country buses and matatus travelling between towns actually went up by 1.4 percent.
As for non-food items, we saw a wee bit of movement – spirits went up by 0.1 percent and cigarettes by 0.4 percent. Mobile handsets and laptops dropped a bit in price, while TV subscription fees went up 0.3 percent.
Nothing much changed in the education, insurance, and financial services sectors, costs pretty much stayed the same during the same period.
Despite all the price wobbles, KNBS is saying that the overall inflation rate remained the same, at 4.6 percent in October, just the same as September.
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Power, Food Prices Increase; Inflation Unchanged, KNBS Reports