Inflation spikes to 11.48pc in April

The continued drought has pushed inflation to 11.48 percent in April, the highest inflation rate in close to five years.

The inflation spike was driven by the continued rise in the price of food as basic commodities continue to be in short supply.

“Between March and April 2017, the food and non-alcoholic drinks’ index increased by 3.55 per cent. This was mainly attributed to increase in prices of several food items including, sukuma wiki, spinach, maize flour, milk, potatoes, cabbages, onions and maize grain. The increase in food prices was partly contributed by prevailing drought conditions,” the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) said in a statement.

Month-on-month inflation increased to 1.79 percent from 1.67 percent last month.

For instance a 500 ml packet of milk retailed at Sh60.21 while a two kilogram packet of maize flour was sold at Sh135.87.

Energy prices also rose during the period with those using more than 200 kilowatt hours of electricity paying Sh3,700 while the cost of gas rose to Sh2,000.

The central bank of Kenya has said it did not foresee inflation as a major cause for concern, expecting food prices to drop with the onset of rains.

At the last monetary policy committee meeting, the central bank held the base lending rate at 10 percent.

The CBK usually targets to keep inflation at between 2.5 and 7.5 percent.