Kenya’s Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi says the worst of the country’s cost-of-living crisis is easing, with inflation down and the shilling holding firm against the dollar.
Speaking in Nairobi on Monday as the government launched the 2026/27 budget process, Mbadi dismissed claims that falling inflation was a statistical trick. He insisted the change was visible in household budgets.
“Remember that in 2022, we had inflation at 9.6 percent. Now it has come down to 4.1. To me, clearly, that also reflects a reduction in the cost of living,” he said.
The minister pointed to lower prices for maize flour, fuel and sugar compared with the sharp spikes of late 2022 and early 2023. He argued that these improvements had made life easier for many families.
“The cost of living is not determined in political rallies; it will not be determined in churches. It is determined by real data collected, collated, and disseminated,” he told the gathering.
Mbadi also reflected on the street demonstrations of 2023, when Kenyans marched with cooking pots on their heads to protest rising prices. “Today, how many people are in the streets with sufurias on their heads? I don’t see them. It means now the cost of what was being cooked by the sufuria has gone down,” he said.
Still, the Cabinet Secretary admitted the economy remains fragile. Nearly half of government revenue is used to service debt, leaving little room for development spending.
“Early last year, there was panic in our economy. The panic was that we were likely to default on paying our debt,” Mbadi recalled. He cited a $2 billion Eurobond due in June 2024 that had raised fears of default, as the shilling weakened to nearly 165 against the dollar.
Government steps to restructure debt and restore confidence, he said, had brought stability. The currency has since strengthened to about 129.2 to the dollar, where it has held steady for more than a year.
“If you want to know that it is real, look at the forex reserves,” Mbadi added, noting that import cover has risen to 5.2 months, from 3.8 months last year and just 2.3 months in 2022.
The minister said the government would continue to focus on reducing debt risks while keeping the economy steady. “The reality is, it is real,” he emphasised, defending his ministry’s record.
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