The Leading Economic Indicators highlights trends in Consumer Price Indices (CPI) and inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, international trade, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, building and construction, tourism and transport. Consumer Price Index (CPI) expanded from 167.07 points in April 2016 to 167.99 points in May 2016.
The overall rate of inflation contracted from 5.27 per cent to 5.00 per cent during the same period. In May, 2016 the Kenyan Shilling appreciated against the US Dollar, the Euro, the South African Rand and the Uganda shilling while depreciating against the Sterling Pound and the Japanese Yen. The average yield rate for the 91-day Treasury bills, which is a benchmark for the general trend of interest rates, fell from 8.92 per cent in April 2016 to 8.15 per cent in May 2016 while the inter-bank rate fell to 3.61 in May 2016 from 3.92 per cent in April 2016. The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) 20 share index contracted from 4,009 points in April 2016 to 3,868 points in May 2016, while the total number of shares traded decreased from 426 million shares to 384 million shares during the same period. The total value of NSE shares traded dropped from KSh 10.07 billion in April 2016 to KSh 9.72 billion in May 2016. Broad money supply (M3), a key indicator for monetary policy formulation rose from KSh 2,674.04 billion in April 2016 to KSh 2,703.49 billion in May 2016. Gross Foreign Exchange Reserves increased from KSh 991.42 billion in March 2016 to KSh 1,003.36 billion in April 2016. Net Foreign Exchange Reserves expanded from KSh 473.46 billion in March 2016 to KSh 492.02 billion in April 2016. Download Leading Economic Indicators May 2016…