Kenya's inflation rose to 4.1 percent between March and April 2025. Photo | courtesy.
Kenya’s inflation rate climbed to 4.1 percent in April 2025 from 3.6 percent in March, largely driven by a surge in processed food and energy prices, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) revealed in its latest Weekly Bulletin.
Core inflation also ticked up to 2.5 percent from 2.2 percent, while non-core inflation, which includes volatile items such as fuel, jumped to 8.4 percent from 7.4 percent, the CBK said.
The Kenyan Shilling remained relatively stable against major global currencies, exchanging at Sh129.34 per US dollar on April 30, slightly firmer than Sh129.54 a week earlier.
Foreign exchange reserves stood at $9.75 billion equivalent to 4.4 months of import cover meeting the CBK’s statutory requirement.
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In the money market, liquidity remained healthy, with commercial banks holding Sh7.7 billion in excess reserves.
The interbank rate edged lower to 9.94 percent as the volume of interbank deals dropped to 30 from 38 the previous week.
Meanwhile, the Treasury bond auction held on April 30 saw high investor demand, with bids totaling Sh18.4 billion against a Sh24.0 billion offer, representing a performance rate of 76.6 percent.
Longer-dated bonds attracted even more interest, with KSh 57.1 billion in bids submitted for a KSh 50.0 billion offer an impressive 114.2 percent performance.
At the Nairobi Securities Exchange, equities posted marginal losses. The NSE 20, NSE 25, and NASI indices declined by 0.76 percent, 0.45 percent, and 0.05 percent respectively. Market capitalization, trading volumes, and turnover all recorded slight drops.
Bond market turnover dipped by 0.8 percent locally, while yields on Kenya’s Eurobonds rose by an average of 2.8 basis points. Yields on Angola and Côte d’Ivoire Eurobonds also increased.
Globally, easing inflation in the US and Europe pointed to stabilizing economic conditions. US inflation, as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, fell to 2.4 percent in March from 2.8 percent in February.
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The US economy, however, contracted by 0.3 percent in Q1 2025.
Crude oil prices dropped during the week, with Murban oil falling to USD 62.34 per barrel on May 1 from USD 67.34 a week earlier, on the back of improved supply outlook and easing geopolitical tensions.
