Ethiopian Annual Inflation Accelerated in December

14 January, 2011 | By William Davison (Bloomberg)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ethiopian inflation accelerated to 14.5 percent in December after
the government devalued the birr, boosting the cost of imported
products.

The inflation rate increased from 10.2 percent in November, the
Addis Ababa-based Central Statistical Agency said in a statement
today. The cost of non-food items jumped 22.9 percent, while food
prices rose 8.9 percent from a year earlier, the agency said.

Ethiopia’s central bank on Sept. 1 devalued the birr by 17 percent
against the dollar to boost exports and domestic manufacturing.
Annual inflation accelerated in the following two months, before
slowing to 10.2 percent in November from 10.6 percent in October.

The Ethiopian government introduced controls on prices of goods
including bread, meat, sugar and beer on Jan. 6 because of a lack of
competition in the domestic market. More restrictions may be
placed on other goods in the future, a Trade Ministry official said on
Jan. 11.

World food prices climbed to a record high in December on steeper
sugar, grain and oilseed costs, exceeding levels reached in 2008 that
sparked deadly riots from Haiti to Egypt, the United Nations Food
and Agricultural Organization reported on Jan. 5. An index of 55
food commodities tracked by the UN’s FAO gained for a sixth
month to 214.7 points, above the prior all- time high of 213.5 in
June 2008.

--Editors: Paul Richardson, Vernon Wessels.

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