Kenya's annual inflation rises to 25.8 pct in March

Kenya's annual headline inflation rate rose slightly to 25.8 per cent in March from 25.1 per cent in February, the government said on Tuesday.

Core inflation, which excludes food items from the consumer price index basket, slowed to 7.7 per cent compared with 7.9 per cent in February, the national bureau of statistics said.

"Overall inflation rate increased from 25.1 per cent in February 2009 to 25.8 per cent in March 2009," the bureau in a statement.

The central bank's monetary policy committee is worried by the rate of inflation in east Africa's biggest economy, governor Njuguna Ndung'u said earlier this month.

Kenya might get some relief, however, when the bureau of statistics switches to a new methodology for calculating inflation later this year, which officials say will halve the rate.