WASHINGTON, April 24: US President George W. Bush and visiting Peruvian President Alan Garcia urged the US Congress on Monday to approve a US-Peru free trade deal that lawmakers in Lima ratified one year ago.

“The president is here to urge the Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, to pass the free trade agreement with Peru, and I urge them to vote yes,” Bush said during a joint public appearance with Garcia at the White House.

“For us, it is vital,” said Garcia, who boasted of Peru's eight-per cent growth with just one-per cent inflation over the past year and said a repeat performance was possible as long as US lawmakers approve the free trade pact.

The deal “will help maintain and strengthen a democracy that helps the poorest and gives jobs to the unemployed and shows the world that democracy, with a free market and investment, is the best path to development,” said Garcia.

The trade agreement was ratified by Peru's Congress in April 2006, but the US Congress has not yet voted on the treaty.—AFP