NAIROBI - Kenya's inflation fell in March compared with a month earlier, driven by falling prices of some food items and transport costs, the statistics office said on Friday.

Inflation dropped to 5.7% year-on-year in March from 6.3% in February, the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation was at 0.2% compared with 0.1% in February, the office said.

The government has a preferred range for inflation of between 2.5% and 7.5% in the medium term.

The central bank is due to announce its latest lending rate decision on April 3. In February, the bank raised its benchmark rate to 13.0% from 12.5% previously.

(Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Ros Russell)