Inflation for full-year 2010 averaged 3.9%, down from 5.7% in 2009, according to the finance minister, Mr Djoudi, speaking at the end of March. But food prices have risen by 15% since the end of 2010, according to figures from the Union générale des commercants et artisans algériens (UGCAA) quoted by El Watan, on March 14th. Sharp increases in food prices were blamed for provoking civil unrest in early January, after which the government introduced a series of emergency measures to try to control rising prices (February 2011, The political scene). Imports of food have increased by 35% in the past year, according to the latest figures from the Centre national de l'informatique et des statistiques (CNIS), the government trade statistics agency, rising to US$621m in February 2011 compared with US$460m a year earlier. Overall, imports fell by 10% in the two-year period to February 2011, according to CNIS.