by Ronald Njoroge
NAIROBI, July 31 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's overall inflation rate declined to 7.47 percent in July compared to last month's 9.21 percent, the statistics bureau said on Monday.
"The drop was mainly caused by significant falls in the price of several foods items arising out of good weather conditions in some parts of the country in the recent past as well as government interventions aimed at bringing down the cost of staple foods items," the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) said in statement issued in Nairobi.
The year on year food inflation dropped from 15.81 percent in June to 12.19 in July.
During the month under review, housing, water and electricity and other fuels index decreased by 0.8 percent due to a decline in the cost of electricity, kerosene and cooking gas.
The prices of the other non-food items remained relatively stable during the review period.
KNBS Director General Zachary Mwangi said that the transport index dropped by 0.29 percent in July 2017 mainly on account of a decrease in pump prices of petrol and diesel.
The prices were obtained from selected retail outlets in 25 data collection zones spread across Nairobi and 13 other urban centers.
