Kenya Raises Minimum Wage by 12% to Ease Impact of Inflation

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The minimum wage was raised by 12% to help workers who have seen their household budgets squeezed by inflation.

The raise in wages would help protect people's spending power, said the President in a statement. He made the announcement during an address to mark Labor Day. The minimum wage hasn't been reviewed in three years.

He said there was a compelling case to review the minimum wages so as to cushion our workers against further erosion of their purchasing power.

Inflation in April was more than expected, rising 6.5% from a year earlier. The spillover from Russia's invasion of Ukraine is stoking inflation in East Africa's largest economy. Food costs are a problem around the world, with record global prices threatening to push more people into hunger.