Year-on-year, prices increased faster for food & non-alcoholic beverages (8.17 percent vs 2.84 percent in March) mainly impacted by prolonged drought conditions. Also, inflation quickened for transport (10.84 percent vs 10.08 percent), amid a rebound in prices of diesel (4.30 percent vs -1.37 percent). Additional upward pressure came from cost of restaurants & hotels (3.23 percent vs 3.04 percent); communication (4.56 percent vs 4.52 percent); health (4.55 percent vs 4.51 percent); education (1.45 percent vs 1.24 percent); recreation & culture (0.69 percent vs 0.58 percent) and alcoholic beverages & tobacco (8.83 percent vs 7.71 percent).
On the other hand, cost slowed for housing & utilities (5.78 percent vs 8.19 percent), namely electricity 50 kWh (4.4 percent vs 6.44 percent) and electricity 200 kWh (4.5 percent vs 5.95 percent). Also, prices rose less for clothing & footwear (2.33 percent vs 2.37 percent); furnishings (2.50 percent vs 2.95 percent) and miscellaneous goods & services (3.07 percent vs 3.15 percent).
On a monthly basis, consumer prices inched up 3.51 percent, after a 1.60 percent increase in the previous month. It is the highest monthly inflation rate since at least February 2010, mainly due to prices of food & non-alcoholic beverages (6.86 percent vs 3.30 percent), of which sifted maize flour (29.82 percent), Kales (sukuma wiki) (25.30 percent), potatoes (19.27 percent), loose maize grain (26.14 percent), flour (15.90 percent) and tomatoes (15.31 percent).