People plan for Christmas holidays differently depending on their level of income or status. Some plan for their holiday before, while others wait till the eve in order to start planning for it.
In Kenya, Christmas has changed throughout the years. From the time of former President Moi era’s when ”chapati” was included in the budget during planning, to going to up-country.
However, times have changed as inflation has increased. Now its harder to plan for holidays such as Christmas, because of high living standards, from fuel to food products.
Reasons that might lead to this year’s Christmas being expensive include:
Fuel increase
Fuel prices in Kenya have reached a historic high, crossing the 200 Kenyan shilling ($1.36) mark for the first time.
This will definitely affect most people especially, those who travel to up-country in order to celebrate their holidays with families and friends. As this rate might lead to hiking of fare abnormally.
Read Also : Proposal to Increase the Presidential Term Limit
High demand for food
Another variable affecting food prices is the high demand for food to fill the party tables by consumers. During the December festivities, demand for specific goods such as certain foods or consumer goods increases, causing the demand curve to shift outwards. As long as an increase in supply does not accompany this, prices might remain high this Christmas.
Increase in dollar
In 2021, a global rally in wheat prices, for example, pushed up the cost of bakers and standard flour; this prompted an increase in the cost of bread and pastries.
Wheat is Kenya’s second most important cereal after corn, and Kenya imports about 75% of the wheat consumed locally, with most imports coming from Argentina, the US, Ukraine, and Russia.
Furthermore, Kenya being a net importer is affected by the performance of the Kenyan shilling against the US Dollar in the foreign exchange market. The dollar is the preferred currency of trade globally, and the continued depreciation in the shilling means that Kenya has to pay more for imports.
Subscribe to Switch TV
