Month: December 2015

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics hereby releases Consumer Price Indices (CPI) and inflation rates for December, 2015. These numbers have been generated using data collected during the second and third weeks of the month under review. The prices were obtained from selected retail outlets in 25 data collection zones located in Nairobi and 13 other urban centers.

The CPI increased by 1.07 per cent from 162. 97 in November 2015 to 164.72 in December 2015. The overall inflation rate stood at 8.01 per cent in December 2015…Download CPI and Inflation Rates for December 2015

Provisional estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) show that the country’s economy expanded by 5.8 per cent during the third quarter of 2015 compared to 5.2 per cent recorded during a similar quarter of 2014 as shown in Figure 1. The growth was mainly supported by strong expansions in Agriculture; Construction; Financial and Insurance; Wholesale and Retail Trade; and Transport and Storage. Activities of the Construction industry recorded the fastest growth of 14.1 per cent followed by Mining and Quarrying, Electricity Supply and Financial and Insurance with growths of 12.5 per cent, 11.0 per cent and 10.1 per cent, respectively. Accommodation and Food Services (Hotels and Restaurants) continued on the decline that started last year.

During the quarter, most of the macroeconomic indicators remained relatively stable. Inflation eased to an average of 6.14 per cent from 7.54 per cent recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2014 mainly due to decrease in transportation costs in line with the global fall of oil prices. Globally, Murban ADNOC crude oil prices halved to average at US$ 51.05 per barrel during the quarter under review compared to US$ 103.9 in the same quarter of 2014. Domestically, the retail prices for light diesel declined by 20.0 per cent over the same period.

In the money market, the Kenyan Shilling strengthened against the Euro, Yen, South African Rand, Ugandan Shilling and the Tanzanian Shilling but weakened against the US Dollar and the Sterling Pound during the third quarter of 2015 compared to a similar period in 2014. Despite an upward revision of the Central Bank Rate (CBR), weighted interest rates on commercial banks loans and advances declined by 0.61 percentage points to average at 15.79 per cent during the quarter under review compared to 16.40 per cent in the same quarter of 2014. The CBR was adjusted from 8.50 per cent, that prevailed in the first half of 2015, to 10.0 per cent in June and later to 11.5 per cent in July 2015. The volume of stocks traded at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) declined significantly to an average of 4,251 shares compared to 5,100 shares traded during a similar quarter of 2014. During the review period, the value of total exports increased by 23.2 per cent while the import bill declined by 9.7 per cent, resulting to narrowing of the current account deficit by KSh 86.5 billion compared to the same quarter in 2014. Download Gross Domestic Product and Balance of Payments Third Quarter 2015 

The Leading Economic Indicators for the month of November 2015 highlights trends in Consumer Price Indices (CPI) and inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, international trade, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, building and construction, tourism and transport.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased from 162.13 points in October 2015 to 162.97 points in November 2015. The overall rate of inflation went up from 6.72 per cent to 7.32 per cent during the same period. In November 2015, the Kenyan Shilling appreciated against all the major currencies except the Japanese Yen, Tanzanian and Ugandan shilling.
The average yield rate for the 91-day Treasury bills, which is a benchmark for the general trend of interest rates, increased from 14.00 per cent in September 2015 to 21.04 per cent in October 2015 to. However, the inter-bank rate declined to 15.35 in October 2015 from 21.24 per cent in September 2015.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) 20 share index expanded from 3,869 points in October 2015 to 4,016 points in November 2015, while the total number of shares traded decreased from 540 million to 441 million shares during the same period. The total value of NSE shares traded contracted from KSh 17.84 billion in October 2015 to KSh 13.15 billion in November 2015.
Broad money supply (M3), a key indicator for monetary policy formulation rose from KSh 2,562.46 billion in September 2015 to KSh 2,567.66 billion in October 2015. Gross Foreign Exchange Reserves increased from KSh 916.03 billion in September 2015 to KSh 948.77 billion in October 2015. Net Foreign Exchange Reserves increased from KSh 391.39 billion in September 2015 to KSh 438.59 billion in October 2015.Download Leading Economic Indicator November 2015

The Leading Economic Indicators for the month of October 2015 highlights trends in Consumer Price Indices (CPI) and inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, international trade, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, building and construction, tourism and transport.

Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased from 161.33 points in September 2015 to 162.13 points in October 2015. The overall rate of inflation increased from 5.97 per cent to 6.72 per cent during the same period. In October 2015, the Kenyan Shilling appreciated against all the major currencies except the Japanese Yen.
The average yield rate for the 91-day Treasury bills, which is a benchmark for the general trend of interest rates, increased from 14.00 per cent in September 2015 to 21.04 per cent in October 2015 to. However, the inter-bank rates on the other hand declined from 21.24 per cent in September 2015 to 15.35 in October 2015.
The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) 20 share index contracted from 4,173 points in September 2015 to 3,869 points in October 2015, while the total number of shares traded increased from 434 million to 540 million shares during the same period. The total value of NSE shares traded expanded from KSh 14.38 billion in September 2015 to KSh 17.84 billion in October 2015.
Broad money supply (M3), a key indicator for monetary policy formulation rose from KSh 2,567.05 billion in September 2015 to KSh 2,567.35 billion in October 2015. Gross Foreign Exchange Reserves increased from KSh 916.03 billion in September 2015 to KSh 948.77 billion in October 2015. Net Foreign Exchange Reserves increased from KSh 391.39 billion in September 2015 to KSh 438.59 billion in October 2015.Download Leading Economic Indicators October 2015

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics hereby releases Consumer Price Indices (CPI) and inflation rates for November, 2015. These numbers have been generated using data collected during the second and third weeks of the month under review. The prices were obtained from selected retail outlets in 25 data collection zones located in Nairobi and 13 other urban centers.

The CPI increased by 0.52 per cent from 162.13 in October 2015 to 162.97 in November 2015. The overall inflation rate stood at 7.32 per cent in November 2015. Download CPI and Inflation Rates for November 2015…