Ecuador's Correa Says Inflation Decelerated Again in July

By Stephan Kueffner

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, said inflation in the South American country decelerated again in July, helped by food and energy subsidies.

Correa in his weekly address today said data indicate that the nation's consumer price index rose between 0.53 percent and 0.59 percent compared with June, the slowest pace of increase this year. The figures reflect price information for the first three weeks of the month, Byron Villacis, director of Ecuador's National Statistics and Census Institute, told Bloomberg News in a telephone interview today.

``Prices are stabilizing,'' said Correa, 45, trained as an economist. He aims to keep annual inflation in the single digits this year.

Ecuadorean consumer prices rose 0.76 percent in June from the previous month. The nation's annual inflation rate of 3.32 percent last year was the lowest among Latin America's larger economies.