Kenya’s economic growth in 2013 surpassed expectations, recording a 4.7 per cent GDP growth, slightly higher than the 4.5 percent forecast by African Development Bank (AfDB), a growth rate Anne Waiguru, Devolution Cabinet Secretary said was supported by low inflation.
Stable macroeconomic environment – which Nairobi experienced for most part of the year – lower international oil prices, as well as low and stable inflation rate due to improved supply of basic necessities, also supported the economic growth, Waiguru added.
Kenya’s commitment to providing cheap and stable power is starting to yield fruit, with the cost of electricity falling significantly. This, as well as infrastructural development were also drivers of the growth, the Secretary said as the country launched its 2014 Economic Survey Report which detailed its Economic outlook for the year and also reviewed the performance of economic sectors in 2013.
Kenya is expected to do better than forecasts in 2014 just like it did last year. Waiguru said “The macroeconomic stability witnessed in 2013 continued into the first quarter of 2014 and is likely to be maintained to the rest of the year.”
2013 ended with inflation at 5.7 percent, a 3.7 percent decrease from 2012’s 9.4 percent.
Kenya has expressed commitment to building on the growth recorded as it put policies in place to catalyse growth in some of the key sectors including tourism, trade and agriculture.
Ms Waiguru also said the government was putting security measures in place to reassure tourists of their safety in one of Africa’s biggest tourists’ destination whose growth has suffered lately due to insurgency.
Kenya recorded a 200,000 decrease in the number of international visitors, from 1.7 million in 2012 to 1.5 million in 2013.
