Kenya's Inflation Rate Rises to 15.6 pct in December

Posted 02 January 2007 @ 02:27 pm EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

NAIROBI (AP) - Kenya's overall inflation rate rose to an annual 15.6 percent in December from 14.6 percent in November on the back of higher food, fuel and power prices, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said on Tuesday.

The underlying inflation rate, which excludes changes in the price of food items, was unchanged at 5.9 percent. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 2.6 percent month on month, to 214.1 points in December from November's 208.6.

"(The) food and non-alcoholic drink index rose 4.0 percent in December compared to November 2006," the CBS said in a statement. "This was mainly attributed to a rise in prices of sugar, tomatoes, onions, wheat floor and bread."

The CBS said the price of sugar shot up to 91 shillings a kilo compared with 72.13 shillings in November. The government attributed the sharp increase to an artificial sugar shortage which it blamed on distributors.

The fuel and power index increased by 0.7 percent during the month of December, CBS said. The bureau collects data every second and third week of each month from shops in 13 towns across the east African country. It aims to reflect spending patterns of urban Kenyan households.