Cheap oil drags down Kenya inflation

The price of cooking gas has dropped to a four-month low pushing down the cost of living. FILE PHOTO |

What you need to know:

  • Between January and February the Food and Non Alcoholic Drinks index decreased by 0.43 per cent, KNBS said.

The cost of living for the month of February dropped to 6.84pc from 7.78pc in January on lower food and fuel prices, fresh government data shows.

β€œThe main contributors to the decline were decreases in the prices of kerosene and cooking gas,” The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) said Monday in a statement.

Between January and February the Food and Non Alcoholic Drinks index decreased by 0.43 per cent, KNBS said.

Over the same period the housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index decreased by 1.81 per cent. The transport index decreased by 1.62 percent in February compared to the previous month mainly due to reduced costs of petrol and diesel.

The National Treasury had earlier warned of risks of imported inflation in 2016β€” with fluctuations in exchange rate, owing to a possible strengthening of the US dollar against the shilling.