KENYA INFLATION RISES SLIGHTLY

Kenya's inflation crept up marginally to 4.6 percent from a year ago in September, compared to 4.5 percent in August, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) reported.

The Tuesday report as per KNBS reported that month-on-month inflation was 0.2 percent in September while the overall Consumer Price Index (CPI) shifted to 146.56 from 146.21 in the previous month.

It was mainly triggered by a pick-up in the cost of food and drinks (8.4%), transport (4.0%), and shelter, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.4%), the bureau said.
"These three divisions together account for over 57 per cent of the total weight of the 13 major expenditure categories," the report added.
The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) sets year-over-year inflation at between 2.5% and 7.5% as the target for its monetary policy choices, with a little room for external and domestic shocks like fluctuations in oil prices or climatic shocks.

Concurrently, the economy expanded by 5.0 percent year over year during the second quarter of 2025 compared to 4.6 percent in the second quarter of last year.
KNBS had explained that the increase was brought about by the agriculture, forestry and fishing (4.4%); transport and storage (5.4%); and insurance and finance (6.6%) activities.
It was also driven by rebound in building and mining activity that rose by 5.7 and 15.3 per cent, respectively, from contracting in the second quarter of 2024.

"Electricity and water supply activities also performed better in the current quarter, recording growth of 5.7 per cent compared to 1.2 per cent growth posted in the second quarter of 2024," stated the statistics office.

Concurrently, for the quarter, the Kenyan Shilling was stronger against the US Dollar by 1.2 percent and weaker against some major foreign currencies, including the Japanese Yen, the Pound Sterling, and the Euro, by 6.5 percent, 4.5 percent, and 4.0 percent, respectively.Regionally, it weakened against the Ugandan Shilling by 2.7 percent but appreciated against the Tanzanian Shilling.

President William Ruto, last month, stated that Kenya's economy was estimated to grow by 5.6 percent this year, compared to a 4.7 percent growth last year.
This was higher than projections by the National Treasury and CBK of 5.3 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively.