Sudan inflation turns up slightly to 25.7 pct in Dec

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan's inflation rate increased slightly to 25.7 percent in December, the Central Statistics Office said on Monday, ending a four-month stretch of slowing inflation. Prices have soared in Sudan since South Sudan seceded in 2011, taking with it three quarters of the country's oil output, the main source of the foreign currency used to support the Sudanese pound and to pay for food and other imports. Fuel subsidy cuts introduced in September 2013 also pushed up inflation but their effects have since begun to ease. The rising cost of living has caused social unrest in Sudan. Post-secession austerity measures such as the fuel subsidy cut prompted protests in which dozens were killed and hundreds injured. Although Sudan's inflation rate remains stubbornly high, it has slowed markedly since July, when it reached 46.8 percent. It stood at 25.6 percent in November. As an oil importer, Sudan is benefiting from the more than 50 percent slump in global oil prices since June. Sudan plans to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in April. The ruling party says that it has pulled the economy out of a tailspin in the wake of the South's secession.