Burundi’s inflation rises to 17.6% yr/yr in October

Burundi’s inflation accelerated to 17.6 percent year-on-year in October from 15.2 per cent in September due to rising food costs on local markets, official figures showed on Monday.

Food inflation jumped to 28.0 percent in the year to October from 23.9 percent in September, the Institute of Economic Studies and Statistics (ISTEEBU) said in its monthly report.

The tiny East African nation whose economy relies mostly on coffee and tea exports has been hurt by a political crisis for more than two years.

Aid-dependent Burundi is under economic pressure after some of its key donors such as the European Union suspended direct financial support to the government, over accusations of human rights violations, which Burundi denies.

The International Monetary Fund predicts that the coffee producing country will have zero economic growth this year after the economy shrank in 2016.

More than 700 people have been killed and 400,000 have fled to neighbouring countries during the crisis, triggered by President Pierre Nkurunziza’s decision to run for a third term.