World’s Best-Performing Currency Fails to Slow Kenyan Inflation
Kenya’s annual inflation rate climbed for a second successive month in December as higher food and transport costs offset the effects of the shilling’s world-beating performance this year.
The consumer price index rose 3%, compared with a 2.8% increase in November, the Nairobi-based Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said in an emailed statement Tuesday. Prices advanced 0.6% in the month.
Inflation remains at the lower end of the target range of 2.5% to 7.5% in which central bank Governor Kamau Thugge prefers to anchor price-growth expectations.
Earlier this month, the bank slashed its benchmark interest rate for the third time in a row — lowering it to 11.25% from 12% — as muted inflation allows it to offer support to the East African economy.
Price-growth has been subdued by the shilling, the world’s best-performing currency against the dollar this year after it gained about 21% against the greenback since the end of 2023.
The Kenyan unit’s strength has helped slash import costs of raw materials and finished goods, including fuel.
