bankelele

  • Urban Inflation Index

    Posted: July 25, 2008, 10:31 pm by bankelele
    a week early, with some changes

    Tracking prices of some urban commodities compared to six months ago and a year ago

    Fuel: Litre of petrol fuel (at local petrol station) is Kshs. 101.50 ~ $1.50 (up 15.3% in ½ year)
    6 months ago: Kshs. 87.99, Year ago: Kshs. 80.79
    despite record world oil prices, government joint tender system has cushioned some impact on the economy – even oil companies are not celebrating

    Staple food: Maize flour (2 kg. Unga pack at Uchumi) is Kshs. 73 (up 40% in ½ year)
    6 months ago Kshs. 52, Year ago Kshs. 50
    farming woes continue, poor crop expected this year

    Other food item: Sugar (2 kg. Mumias pack) at Uchumi is Kshs. 145 (down 3% in ½ year)
    6 months ago: Kshs. 150, Year ago Kshs. 150 Kshs
    new minister trying to clean up notorious sector

    Entertainment: Bottle of Tusker beer (at local pub) is Kshs. 130 (up 8.3% in ½ year)
    6 months ago; Kshs. 120, Year ago: Kshs. 100
    agricultural input costs rising, but post-budget sin tax pushed prices up. You need this to network in Kenya, or switch to Alvaro?

    Communications: mobile phone promotion
    This month Safaricom has Ongea tariff which has phone calls priced Kshs. 10 per minute all day, while Celtel has a Kshs. 3 per minute tariff (and with a conditional ‘free’ call package thrown in). Safaricom is also promoting broadband hotspots for the entire Nairobi and Mombasa areas.
    - Six months go: Safaricom had extended the hours for Kshs. 8 calls on Saasa tariff, while Celtel had Kshs. 4 per minute calls to 3 preferred numbers
    - A year ago Safaricom had Super Tariffic tariff which has calls 38% cheaper and SMS 30% cheaper than the previous tariff
    mobile communications one of the few things that are getting cheaper

    Exchange rate
    1 US$ equals Kshs. 67.4 (shilling has appreciated 4.7% in ½ year)
    6 months ago: 70.7, Year ago: 66.5
    strong , but now sliding, shilling has cushioned some impact of high oil prices, but exporters are complaining

    Electricity cost
    New addition
    My electricity bill in July 2008 is Kshs. 1,860
    A year ago was Kshs. 995
    Consumption was the same, the culprit was fuel costs adjustment which added Kshs. 820(649c/kwh) to my bill compared to Kshs. 200 shillings (170c/kwh) a year ago as KPLC recently increased the electricity charges which could have some adverse effect on the economy later in the year – already big manufacturers are investing in power plants and alternative generation sources.
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Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes

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