The cost of living went up marginally in November compared to October following an increase in The Food and Non-Alcoholic Beverages Index by 0.6%.
- November data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics puts the inflation rate in November at 2.8 per cent compared to 2.7 per cent in October.
- In particular, prices of sugar, maize flour-sifted and fortified maize flour rose by 5.3, 5.1 and 4.9 per cent, respectively, between October 2024 and November 2024.
- Prices of potatoes (Irish), onion (leeks and bulbs) and cabbages decreased by 2.8, 2.7 and 2.6 per cent, respectively, between October 2024 and November 2024.
The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels’ Index dropped by 0.1 per cent between October 2024 and November 2024. The drop is attributable to decrease in prices of LPG (gas) by 1.1 per cent and the cost of both 50 kWh and 200 kWh of electricity that declined by 0.3 per cent.
The Transport Index increased by 0.2 per cent, despite the prices of petrol and diesel remaining the same between October 2024 and November 2024. The rise in the Transport Index was mainly due to increase in prices of international flights by 1.1 per cent.
The Central Bank of Kenya, which will hold its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Meeting on December 5, has said it expects the overall inflation to remain below the midpoint of the target range in the near term, supported by stable food inflation attributed to improved supply from the ongoing harvests, a stable exchange rate, and lower fuel inflation.
In October, the MPC lowered the Central Bank Rate (CBR) to 12.00 percent from 12.75%.
