UPDATE 1-Ethiopia Jan inflation pulls back to 32 pct

Wed Feb 8, 2012 6:51am GMT

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ADDIS ABABA Feb 8 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's inflation rate fell for the fifth straight month in January to 32 percent from a year earlier, compared with 35.9 percent in December, the statistics office said on Wednesday.

The food inflation rate dipped to 41.4 percent in January from 46.5 percent in December, while the non-food category slowed to 19.2 percent from 21.8 percent, the Central Statistics Agency said in a statement.

"In January, 2012, declines were observed in the prices of wheat, maize, sorghum, pulses and spices," the agency said.

Ethiopian consumer prices surged last year, with inflation peaking at 40.6 percent in August. It has declined steadily since then but remains highly elevated.

Inflation has been a major problem across the east and Horn of Africa, after poor rain cut harvests and as global oil prices surged. (Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Duncan Miriri)

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