Burundi’s inflation eases to 4.3% in March

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KIGALI (Reuters) – Burundi’s year-on-year inflation eased to 4.3 percent in March from 6.7 percent in February due to falling food costs, official data showed on Wednesday.

Food inflation in the 12 months to March slowed to 6.4 percent from 10.9 percent in February, the country’s Institute of Economic Studies and Statistics (ISTEEBU) said.

Despite falling inflation, the economy has been battered by a year-long political crisis and associated violence, mainly in the capital. Western donors have reduced vital aid leaving the poor nation more dependent on its modest tea and coffee exports.

Burundi’s economy shrank by 7.2 percent in 2015 and is only expected to expand by 3.4 percent in 2016, according to the International Monetary Fund in a recent report.

 

 

(Reporting by Patrick Nduwimana; Writing by Edmund Blair, editing by David Evans)

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