NAIROBI, Aug 30 (Reuters) – Kenya’s inflation edged up to 4.4% year-on-year in August from 4.3% in July, data from the statistics office showed on Friday.

On a month-on-month basis inflation was flat at 0.0% from -0.2% in July, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

The Kenyan government targets an inflation rate of between 2.5% and 7.5% in the medium term.

Kenya’s central bank cut its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points earlier this month, saying there was scope to ease policy gradually as inflation had fallen below the midpoint of its target range.

(Reporting by George Obulutsa and Hereward Holland; Editing by Alexander Winning)