The Leading Economic Indicators for the month of September 2014 highlights trends in Consumer Price Indices (CPI) and inflation, interest rates, exchange rates, international trade, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, building and construction, tourism and transport. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose from 152.02 points in August 2014 to 152.24 points in September 2014.
The overall rate of inflation declined from 8.36 per cent to 6.60 per cent during the same period. In September, the Kenyan Shilling appreciated against the Sterling pound, the Euro, the Japanese Yen and the South African Rand. In contrast, the Shilling depreciated against the US Dollar, the Ugandan and Tanzanian shilling. The average yield rate for the 91-day Treasury bills, which is a benchmark for the general trend of interest rates, rose to 8.35 per cent in September 2014 from 8.29 per cent in August 2014. The inter-bank rates dropped to 7.43 per cent during the period. The Nairobi Securities Exchange 20 share index rose from 4,906 points in July 2014 to 5,139 points in August 2014, while the total number of shares traded increased from 625 million to 629 million shares during the same period.
The total value of NSE shares traded increased from KSh 15.04 billion to KSh 15.51 billion over the same period. Broad money supply (M3), a key indicator for monetary policy formulation contracted from KSh 2,253.23 billion in August 2014 to KSh 2,251.76 billion in September 2014. Gross Foreign Exchange Reserves fell from KSh 871.7 billion in August 2014 to KSh 845.5 billion in September 2014. Net Foreign Exchange Reserves decreased from KSh 483.2 to Ksh 448.4 billion over the same period. Download Leading Economic Indicators September 2014