Rising prices prompt protests in Kenya
As inflation in Kenya surges and its currency depreciates the country’s citizens are facing the realization that their new president may not be the economic savior they were hoping for.
Despite campaign promises to empower the country’s poor, President William Ruto has lifted subsidies on gasoline and maize, a staple food in Kenya. Confronted with more expensive critical goods, Kenyans are now preparing to stage protests twice a week, Africanews reports.
Despite the fact that the World Bank estimates Kenya’s GDP will grow an average of 5.2% this year and next, economists are predicting a bleak future as the worst drought in decades threatens the country’s agricultural output and protests dampen tourism prospects, AFP reports. Kenya’s currency, the shilling, dropped to an all-time low in February, and the country’s public debt soared to over $72 billion, the East African reports. Meanwhile, inflation reached 9.2%, according to central government statistics.
