Food prices drive Burundi inflation up to yearly 9.6 pct in December

Reuters
Tea which has been packaged for export is stacked at the Teza tea factory in Bukeye commune, Muramvya province, Burundi April 23, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Food price rises drove Burundi's inflation to 9.6 percent year-on-year in December from 7.1 percent the previous month, official data showed on Wednesday. Food inflation jumped to 13.8 percent in the year to December, from 9.1 percent in November, the Institute of Economic Studies and Statistics said in a report. Months of political unrest, triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term in April 2015, have paralysed businesses and other major economic activity. The International Monetary Fund forecasts the economy will grow by 2 percent in 2017 after shrinking 0.5 percent in 2016. (Editing by Katharine Houreld; and Louise Ireland)