Sudan inflation rate up to 23.2 percent in March - statistics agency

KHARTOUM, April 8 (Reuters) - Sudan's inflation rate was 23.2 percent in March, edging up from 23 percent in February, the Central Statistics Office said on Wednesday.

Prices soared in Sudan after South Sudan seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of the country's oil output, the main source of foreign currency used to support the Sudanese pound and to pay for food and other imports.

Fuel subsidy cuts introduced in 2013 also pushed up inflation, but their effects have since begun to ease.

Except for an uptick in December to 25.7 percent from November's 25.6 percent and March's rate compared with February's, Sudan's inflation has generally been easing since the summer, when it was in the mid-forties.

As an oil importer, Sudan is benefiting from the 50 percent fall in global oil prices since June.

The country plans to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in April and the ruling party says it has pulled the economy out of a tailspin after the South's secession. (Reporting by Khalid Abdelaziz; Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Larry King)