Market News

(Bloomberg) -- Kenya’s annual inflation rate fell to the lowest level since at least 2010 after fuel, food and utility price growth eased. 

The consumer price index climbed 2.7% in October, compared with 3.6% in the previous month, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday in a statement. It’s the slowest pace of increase since at least March 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The slowdown was mainly due to movement in prices in three categories that account for 57% of the overall index: food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport and housing and utilities, the agency said. 

Transport costs dropped 1.3% year on year, after the energy regulator cut gasoline prices by 4.3% in its mid-month review.

Prices of food and non-alcoholic drinks – which make up a third of the inflation basket – increased by 4.3% from a year ago, KNBS said. The housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels index — the second-biggest component at almost 15% — climbed 0.4% during the period.

Kenya’s central bank earlier this month delivered its biggest interest-rate cut since the Covid-19 pandemic, after the inflation rate declined to a 12-year low. In the near term, it expects price growth to remain below 5%, the midpoint of its target range. The monetary policy committee reduced the key rate by 75 basis points to 12%.

--With assistance from Ana Monteiro.

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