DAR ES SALAAM: Tanzania’s economic growth slowed in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the same period last year, hurt by a slump in construction, transport and manufacturing sectors, official data showed on Thursday.

The state-run National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement gross domestic product grew 5.5 percent in the first quarter compared with 5.7 percent in the same period a year ago.

NBS said the construction sector grew 4.3 percent in January to March, compared with 23.2 percent a year ago due to low investment in the activity during the period under review.

“The performance of the first quarter GDP 2016 indicates that the financial and insurance services recorded the highest growth rate of 13.5 percent followed by information and communication at 13.4 percent,” it said.

The transport sector grew 7.9 percent in the first quarter compared with 14.5 percent a year ago, while growth in the manufacturing sector also slowed to 7.4 percent from 9.9 percent a year ago.—Reuters