Kenya’s economy grew by 5.7 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2016 compared with 6.0 percent growth in the same quarter of 2015, the statistics office said on Friday. The fall was attributed to a slowdown in most sectors, especially agriculture.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing grew 3.9 percent versus 5.5 percent in the year-ago period, though accommodation and food services – which includes tourism – rose 13.8 percent compared with a contraction of 6.5 percent.
“Generally, the economic growth was well spread although most of the sectors of the economy recorded slowed growths,” KNBS said.
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Tourism, along with tea, horticulture and remittances, are Kenya’s leading sources of foreign exchange.
In 2015, East Africa’s biggest economy struggled with a number of challenges including attacks blamed on Somalia’s al Shabaab militants that scared away tourists and eroded foreign exchange earnings in the sector.
Growth in the finance sector slowed to 6.1 percent in the quarter under review from 10.3 percent in the same period of 2015, while the transport sector rose to 10.3 percent from 9.4 percent, KNBS said.
The statistics office said the current account deficit shrank 10.4 per cent to 100.6 billion shillings ($983.86 million) during the quarter.
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Net financial inflows went up by 3.2 per cent from KSh 157,615 million in the third quarter of 2015 to KSh 162,578 million in the third quarter of 2016. This was partly as a result of disbursements towards the Standard Gauge Railway. Gross official reserves increased to KSh 830.6 billion as at the end of third quarter of 2016 from KSh 706.7 billion recorded as at the end of the third quarter of 2015.
Month on Month, the country’s GDP growth fell to 0.1%, the lowest level since Jan 2014.
{Source; Reuters, Additional Reporting By Kenyan Wallstreet}