Kenya’s year-on-year Inflation, a measure of the rate of rising prices of goods and services in an economy, in December 2020 increased to 5.62pc up from the 5.46 percent reported in November 2020 according to data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics reveals (KNBS).
The Consumer Price Index in December stood at 111.56, compared to 110.78 in November 2020. The cost of living went up in the last two months of the year 2020, from 4.84pc in October, amidst a tough economic environment worsened by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy.
In the same period, the food and non-alcoholic beverages index increased by 2.45pc between November and December while the year on year food inflation increased by 7.19pc.
“This food inflation was mainly attributed to increase in prices of particular food items, which outweighed the decreases,” KNBS director general Macdonald Obudho notes.
Between November and December 2020, the housing, water, electricity, gas, and other fuels’ index increased by 0.59pc with KNBS citing the rise in increased cost of electricity and kerosene at 0.76pc and 2.08pc respectively as the reason. The cost of electricity went up to an average of Sh4,664 for 200 kilowatts compared to Sh4,629 the previous month.
“This was mainly attributed to increases of 0.76pc and 2.08pc, in cost of electricity and kerosene, respectively,” Obudho said.
The transport index increased by 1.15pc mainly due to a rise in prices of diesel and petrol. In December, a litre of kerosene, used by poor households for cooking and lighting, retailed at an average Sh84.50 up from Sh82.78 in November.
With Kenyans hoping to use the year 2021 to recover, they will still have to deal with higher taxes as the government moves to revise, upwards, tax incentives given last year.
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