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