Kenya's inflation slows further to 9.0% yr/yr in January

People buy bread in the Naivas Supermarket in Nairobi
People buy bread in the Naivas Supermarket, as residents stock their homes amid concerns about the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Nairobi, Kenya March 23, 2020. REUTERS/Njeri Mwangi

NAIROBI, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Kenya's inflation (KECPI=ECI) slowed to 9.0% year-on-year in January from 9.1% a month earlier, the statistics office said on Tuesday.

It is the third straight month that Kenya's inflation has fallen. It hit 9.6% in October, its highest level since May 2017. January's inflation is still above the government's preferred band of 2.5%-7.5%.

On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.2% compared with 0.5% in December, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

On Monday, the central bank held its benchmark lending rate steady at 8.75%, saying its last rate hike in November was still working its way through the economy.

Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Alexander Winning

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