Report: Majority have no spare cash after spending on basics

NAIROBI,KENYA: A majority of Kenyans have no spare money left to spend after meeting the essential living expenses such as food, clothing and their children’s educational needs.

According to the latest Kenya’s Consumer Confidence Index (CCI) by Nielsen Holdings plc, a global performance management company, 71 per cent of Kenyans interviewed for the CCI score for Quarter two of 2018 said that they have no spare cash left after they have met their basic essentials.

Of the 29 per cent who say that they have some spare cash left, claim to spend this cash on improving the conditions of their families such as buying furniture and electrical gadgets before putting the rest into savings.

When asked about their biggest concern over the next six months, the highest number of Kenyans interviewed for the CCI score - 16 per cent – responded that the prices of food worry them more than anything else.

The prices of food worry them more than the education and general welfare of their children which comes at 13 per cent.

Only 11 per cent are worried about the state of the country’s economy, while 12 per cent are worried about having a work and life balance.

Despite the observations, the Nielsen research noted that the CCI score for Quarter 2, 2018 showed an improvement of two points standing at 106 points, compared to the 104 score in the same quarter in 2017.

Commenting on the improvement of the CCI score, Nielsen Sub-Saharan Africa Managing Director Bryan Sun said in a statement that the Kenyan economy has experienced a renewed period of confidence and is projected to rebound to 5.6 per cent in 2018 and 6.2 per cent GDP in 2019.