Nairobi, May 18 -- Kenya's weekly optimal stock of sugar has dropped by 80 percent on the back of diminished production by factories and expensive imports, pushing up retail prices to a historic high.

The Sugar Directorate says they are now recording weekly stocks of 4,000 tonnes against the required optimum of 20,000 tonnes in order to meet the daily requirement in the country.

The shortage in supply has pushed the cost of sugar to Sh420 for a two-kilogramme packet from Sh300 at the beginning of last week.

Head of the directorate Jude Chesire says the deficit has been occasioned by low production at the factory level that has seen some of the millers scale down on milling due to a severe shortage of raw material.

"Our weekly opening ...