Tanzania economy grows 7.1 pct year/year in Q1

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - Tanzania's economy grew 7.1 percent year on year in the first three months of the year, faster than 6.1 percent in the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

Like its east African neighbours, the coffee and gold producer -- which has also discovered an estimated 28.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves -- has been posting some of the fastest growth rates on the continent, fuelled by high commodity prices and growing consumers.

"The generation of electricity and mineral production registered high increase in the economy compared to the similar quarter of 2011," the statistics office said in a statement.

Mining and quarrying expanded by 14.3 percent from 0.8 percent last year, thanks to an increase in production of gold and diamonds, the statistics office said.

Diamond output increased to 57,330 carats from 10,472 carats while gold output more than doubled to 16,736 kilogrammes, the statistics office said.

Farming rebounded, logging growth of 1.4 percent compared with a contraction of 1.2 percent last year. Although the energy sector recorded growth on the back of higher power generation, the country has been struggling with chronic power blackouts.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/tanzania-economy-grows-7-1-pct-q1-080018285--sector.html

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