Ivory Coast inflation rises to 1.8 pct in June: stats office

ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's consumer price inflation rose to 1.8 percent year-on-year in June from 1.2 percent in May, data from the National Statistics office showed on Friday. The monthly report showed that food and soft drink prices rose 3.3 percent, while housing and utility prices increased 2.9 percent over the period. Healthcare prices climbed 0.6 percent and communications costs remained unchanged. The economy of the world's top cocoa grower makes up around 40 percent of the eight-nation West African CFA franc currency zone.