QUITO: Consumer prices in Ecuador rose by 0.9 percent in March, faster than the 0.78 percent increase in the previous month, the Andean nation's official statistics agency said on Thursday.
The government of socialist President Rafael Correa has forecast annual inflation of 5.14 percent this year. Consumer prices have been pushed up in recent months by food prices, which in turn climbed after heavy rains destroyed crops.
The INDEC statistics agency said annual inflation in March this year was 6.12 percent. Monthly inflation in March 2011 was 0.34 percent.
High global oil prices and increased tax receipts allowed Correa to boost state spending on hospitals, roads and schools, which underpinned economic growth last year and boosted his popularity among the poor.
But consumer prices climbed 5.41 percent in 2011, up from a 3.33 percent increase the year before, making some goods too costly for middle class Ecuadoreans already disenchanted with the president's leftist policies.
Ecuador adopted the US dollar as its currency in 2000 in the aftermath of a debt default, which limits the central bank's monetary policy tools to fight inflation.
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