Kenya's GDP growth slows to 4.1 percent in first quarter

Workers prepare preserved flowers and foliage at the Vermont Flowers export processing zone (EPZ) factory in Kenya's capital Nairobi March 10, 2011. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's economy expanded by 4.1 percent in the first quarter of this year, slowing from a rate of 5.2 percent in the same period last year, the statistics office said on Monday. The agency blamed a significant slowing in growth in the farming sector, which makes up a quarter of the economy, and a 3 percent contraction in the hotels and restaurant businesses.