Kenya’s GDP increased by 5.2% y/y in Q1 2013, a faster annual growth than 5.1% in Q4 2012 and 3.9% in Q1 2012, the country’s bureau of statistics said. A key driver of GDP growth in the first quarter of this year was the agriculture and forestry sector, which expanded by 8.3% y/y, up from 2.1% y/y in Q1 2012. Agriculture and forestry is the biggest sector of the African country’s economy. Its strong performance was attributed to improved weather conditions for some key crops compared to the first quarter of 2012, the bureau of statistics commented.
On the other hand the general elections held in March (the first under the new constitution) influenced negatively the performance of the manufacturing, hotels and restaurants and financial intermediation sectors, according to the institution.
Moody’s expects Kenya’s economic growth to increase marginally to 5%-6% in 2013-15 from 4.7% in 2012, thanks to higher investments. The development of recent oil and gas discoveries could improve the investment outlook of Kenya in advance of commercial production, which is expected to come online around 2020.
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