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Kenya's economy grows by 6.2 pct in Q2

Xinhua, September 30, 2016 Adjust font size:

Kenya's economy grew by 6.2 percent in the second quarter of 2016 (March-June) compared to 5.9 percent in the same period in 2015, the bureau of statistics said on Friday.

According to statistics from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the growth was mainly buoyed by expansion in agriculture, forestry and fishing, transportation and storage, real estate, and wholesale and retail trade.

The bureau said the agricultural sector posted a growth of 5.5 percent during the period compared to a revised growth of 4.0 per cent realised in a similar period in 2015.

"The period under review was characterized by adequate and well distributed rainfall that greatly enhanced agricultural production. Notably, the quantity of coffee and tea grew by 16.3 and 49.6 per cent, respectively, in the second quarter," KNBS said.

It said the value of exports of horticultural crops grew significantly (47.1 per cent) in the quarter under review from 177 million U.S. dollars in the second quarter of 2015 to 260 million dollars in the quarter under review.

"This growth was on account of considerable increases in the value of exported cut flowers and vegetables especially in the month of June where the revenue earned more than doubled," it said.

According to KNBS, manufacturing experienced the slowest growth at 3.2 per cent during the review quarter while accommodation and food services continued with the recovery that started in the fourth quarter of 2015 to expand by 15.3 per cent over the same period.

The bureau also attributed the slow growth in the manufacturing sector mainly to low level of activity in key sub-sectors. However, it said the growth was supported by manufacture of beer and stout, manufacture of sugar.

The bureau said mining and quarrying; electricity and water supply; and information and communication sectors recorded notable improvements in their growths during the review quarter.

"Activities of the construction and financial and insurance sectors slowed down but maintained robust growths during the review period," it said.

The review quarter experienced a relatively stable macroeconomic environment despite a remarkable rise in interest rates.

Inflation edged downwards significantly to average at 5.6 per cent during the review period compared to 7.0 per cent in the same quarter of 2015.

The slowdown in inflation was mainly due to the near stagnation of costs of transportation during the review quarter. Slowdowns in the rise of consumer prices for housing, water, energy and communication services also contributed to the deceleration in inflation. Endit