KAMPALA (Reuters) - Uganda's annual headline inflation rate decreased to 11.6 percent in July from a revised 12.3 percent the previous month, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics said on Friday. Consumer prices rose 0.5 percent in July from a month earlier, up from a 0.3 percent month-on-month increase in June. Food prices rose 0.2 percent in July from the previous month. "The increase in (food) prices is mainly attributed to reduced supply to the markets due to drought conditions that have affected many parts of the country," the statistics bureau said in a statement. Inflation rates in east Africa's main economies have been falling over the past months as growth slows and fuel prices come down, but food prices have kept some stubbornly high. In Uganda, higher import costs due to depreciation in the exchange rate have also caused inflationary pressure. Overall annual inflation in June was initially estimated at 12.0 percent. Annual inflation for energy, fuel and utilities fell 6.3 percent in July while food crop inflation was little changed at 22.8 percent, compared with 22.7 percent in June. From May 2008 to May 2009, fresh food, milk and flour prices increased 27 percent. The prices for staple foods rose 56.8 percent compared with an increase of 6.4 percent from May 2007 to May 2008, the ministry said. Core inflation, which excludes food, energy and metered water prices, slowed to 10.4 percent from 11 percent in June, which was initially estimated at 10.7 percent. Headline inflation was 6.1 percent in 2007 and 12.1 percent last year while core inflation rose to 11.4 percent in 2008 from 6.6 percent in the previous year, the finance ministry said. | 
