ALGIERS- Algeria's first-quarter imports of cereal, semolina and flour rose 8.5 percent by value, official figures showed on Wednesday.

Algeria has been trying to reduce imports of grain and other food products in a bid to cut spending due to lower energy earnings since mid-2014.

Imports bill for durum wheat, soft wheat, semolina and flour rose to $816.2 million in the first three months from $752.5 billion a year earlier, customs data showed.

It did not provide details on volumes.

Overall spending on food imports fell 0.2 percent to $2.245 billion from $2.25 billion, the figures showed.

(Reporting by Hamid Ould Ahmed; editing by Jason Neely) ((hamid.ouldahmed@thomsonreuters.com;))