October inflation hits 4.9pc on rising maize flour prices

Maize flour tops the list of foods whose price rallies have driven up the cost of living in October, halting two consecutive months of falling inflation.

Inflation rate shot to 4.95 percent in October, official data released yesterday shows, representing a significant jump from an 18-month low of 3.83 percent in September.

Data compiled by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows the price of a kilogramme of loose maize grain rose 5.82 percent in October to average Sh50.82.

This is almost double (47.17 percent) when compared with the Sh34.53 that the same quantity was costing in a similar period last year.

“Prices of several foodstuffs were significantly higher during the month under review compared to the prices recorded during the previous month,” said KNBS Director-General Zachary Mwangi in a statement.

A kilogramme of sifted maize flour increased by 4.58 percent on average. At a national average of Sh127.31 per two-kilogramme maize flour, the price is 50 percent higher than its level in October last year.

The Agriculture ministry has since blamed the sudden rise in flour prices on poor harvests in September and October.

The increased prices pushed up the food and non-alcoholic index by 0.48 percent to 252.74. The index carries the highest weight (36.04 percent) in the basket of goods and services used to measure inflation.

Tomatoes also recorded a 4.44 percent rise to Sh90.28 per kilogramme during the month. However, prices of a kilo of spinach, sukumawiki and cabbages eased by 4.6, 1.38 and 5.4 percent.

During the same period, alcoholic drinks, tobacco and narcotics index increased by 1.97 percent due to jump in prices of cigarettes as new excise duty set in. A 5.17 percent annual inflation tax adjustment on excise duty on fuel, alcohol and cigarettes set in.

A packet of cigarette was costing Sh147.47 on average, being 7.42 percent higher compared with Sh137.28 in September.

However, consumers saved marginally on electricity and cooking gas with prices easing by less than one percent.

The October figure is within government’s target range of between 2.5 percent and 7.5 percent.

The Central Bank of Kenya expects inflation to remain within the target range in the near term.