NAIROBI: Kenya's year-on-year inflation rate rose for the 11th month in a row in September to 17.32 percent from 16.67 percent in August, driven by higher energy and food prices, official data showed on Thursday.
The Kenyan National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement the consumer price index rose 1.02 percent in September from a month earlier after a 1.25 percent rise in August.
The median forecast for the September inflation rate in a Reuters poll of 10 economists was 17.4 percent.
According to the statistics office food costs rose 0.98 percent as a result of increases in the prices of sugar, beef, bread, milk and potatoes.
Although there were notable falls in the prices of maize flour and maize grains, staple items in the east African country, food shortages are expected to continue putting pressure on prices as Kenya experiences a drought.
The overall year-on-year rate of food inflation stood at 24.37 percent. Transport costs have also surged, to record a year-on-year rise of 24.77 percent in September.
Water, electricity gas and other fuel prices climbed 1.13 percent in September from a month earlier, the statistics bureau said.
Kenya's energy regulator raised the price of petrol earlier this month, citing a weaker shilling, but lowered the prices of both diesel and kerosene.
Kenya's sole power distributor, Kenya Power, also said it would raise the fuel surcharge levied on tariffs next month.
The cost of consuming 50 units of electricity rose to 721 shillings in September from 695.5 in August and 657.5 in July, the statistics bureau said.
A weak shilling has been hurting the balance of payments which means import costs, particularly those that are energy related, are likely to continue increasing.
The central bank has said it expects the year-on-year inflation rate to slow to 7.5 percent by the end of 2011, arguing that the rising food and fuel costs are due to external factors which are likely to ease.
Copyright Reuters, 2011
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