Firms raise prices to protect profits amid inflation pressure

Businesses last month raised prices of goods and services at second-highest pace in three years to protect their profit margins as rising fuel, transport and purchase costs eat into earnings, threatening to undermine a private-sector recovery driven by improving customer demand

The latest Stanbic Bank Kenya Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) shows that while companies are receiving more orders, mounting cash-flow difficulties and inflationary pressures are limiting their ability to expand production, clear backlogs and hire more workers.