National Treasury Cabinet
Secretary John has said the economy is stabilising and the cost of living has
come down.
The CS
lauded the country for making progress, saying that when united, Kenya will realise
economic stability in the shortest time.
Mbadi said to
achieve this, Kenyans need to love the country and be patriotic about it
through their opinions.
“In 2022,
we had inflation rates at unimaginable percentages, 9.6 per cent. It has now
come down to 4.1 per cent. To me, that clearly reflects a reduction in the cost
of living. The cost of the basic commodities from 2022 to 2025 and in 2022 it was
worse. Coming from the end of 2022, 2023 and to 2025, the price of most basic
commodities has gone down from the basic ones, sugar, maize flour and fuel,” he
said.
The CS said
that the cost of living is not determined in political rallies and churches but
rather by the data collected and disseminated.
CS Mbadi
said that the cost of living is about the cost of basic commodities, and the
data collected, which the country has.
“The statistics
are there, and there is no one who can dispute that. If you want to know that it
is the reality, early 2023, when
the cost of basic commodities felt unaffordable for ordinary Kenyans, we were
out in the streets with sufurias on our heads,” Mbadi said.
“Today, how many people
are still doing that? I don’t see them. It means the cost of living has come
down.”
The CS said that the
country’s economic outlook has been facing challenges due to debt payments.
He said the country is
consuming about 48 per cent of the ordinary revenue going into servicing debts
in terms of interest, which is unsustainable.
The CS said they have
identified that as a risk, and the government has put in measures to reduce the debt
risk facing the country.
“Early last year, there
was panic that we were likely to default on our debt obligation,” he added.
Mbadi said the country is doing
relatively well, driven by increased exports, particularly in horticulture and
coffee.
“In addition, diaspora remittances have
provided crucial support. Earlier this year, we successfully made a timely
Eurobond payment, effectively eliminating the associated risk,” he added.
He spoke on Monday during the official launch of the FY 2026/27 and Medium-Term Budget Preparation Process at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).