March Inflation Rises 4.35% on Increases in the Cost Food
Cereals on display
Food and beverage price rises helped push inflation higher in March to 4.35% year-on-year compared to February’s 4.14% the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.
On a month-on-month basis, inflation was 1.60%.
Between February and March, food and non-alcoholic drinks index increased by 3.30%.
KNBS says the increase was mainly due to the prevailing drought conditions causing the costs of some foodstuffs to be higher than in February.
“However, prices of some food items were lower in March 2019 compared to March 2018,” said KNBS.
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Despite the uptick in overall consumer prices, we expect headline inflation to remain anchored within the central bank’s target band of 5.00% +/- 2.50%, given the transitory nature of the current inflation drivers.
Furthermore, persistent weakness in consumer demand will continue to help blunt a spike in inflation.
Comments from CBA Research Analysts.
