Ivory Coast's inflation drops to 1.4 pct in April -stats office

14:19 - 12 May 2015

ABIDJAN, May 12 (Reuters) - Ivory Coast's consumer price inflation fell to 1.4 percent year-on-year in April from 1.7 percent in March, data from the National Statistics Institute showed on Tuesday.

The monthly report showed that food and soft drink prices climbed 2.6 percent, housing and utility prices increased 2.5 percent while transport costs slipped 0.5 percent. Healthcare prices rose 0.2 percent and communications costs were unchanged.

The economy of the world's top cocoa grower makes up around 40 percent of the eight-nation West African CFA franc currency zone. (Reporting by Loucoumane Coulibaly; Editing by Joe Bavier and James Macharia)