Nicaragua will fail to meet inflation target-c.bank

MANAGUA, June 11 (Reuters) - Nicaragua will fail to keep inflation inside its single-digit target this year, mainly because of high oil crude prices, the central bank head Antenor Rosales said on Wednesday.

Nicaragua, one of the poorest countries in Central America and with no oil production, saw inflation of 16.88 percent last year, against 9.2 percent in 2006.

Rosales told a news conference inflation in the first five months of this year was already at 9.43 percent.

The central bank chief said the economy should grow 4 percent this year, up from 3.7 percent in 2007, because of higher farm output and good prices for the country's coffee crop.