March 04, 2007	Sunday	Safar 14, 1428

TRINIDAD, March 3: The worst flooding in 25 years in Bolivia has forced South America’s poorest nation to cut its forecast for economic growth this year by one percentage point, Vice President Alvaro Garcia Linera said.

“We had estimated 7 per cent growth this year. This disaster has slashed that figure to 6 per cent,” Garcia Linera said late on Friday after arriving here.

Bolivia’s economy - dominated by natural gas, mining and agriculture — grew 4.5 per cent in 2006, according to preliminary data. Average growth has been 4 per cent over the past 20 years.

President Evo Morales had aimed for 7 per cent growth this year, the most robust in more than two decades, through an ambitious government investment programme.

The country posted its biggest ever budget surplus last year after nationalisation of energy industry.—Reuters