BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Argentina will see an economic growth of 5.5 percent this year in light of the possibility of higher expansion, the daily La Nacion Lavagna quoted Economy and Production Minister Roberto Lavagna as saying on Saturday.
ĦĦĦĦLavagna told the newspaper in an interview that the government has predicted a 4-percent growth but adjustment was necessary after the country registered an expansion in the final quarter last year.
"Everything seems to indicate that we will have to increase it (the growth target), but I prefer to wait a little to have more information," Lavagna said.
"We could expect a 5.5 percent improvement in the country's gross domestic product (GDP)," he added.
The government forecast followed similar ones from almost everylocal and foreign analysts.
Lavagna ruled out that the higher economic growth would lead Argentina to increase payment for the credits of multilateral organizations.
The Argentine economy posted a strong growth of 8.4 percent in 2003, which marked the first GDP growth since 1998, the National Institution of Statistics and Census reported Thursday.
Over the past few years, Argentina experienced a successive economic downturn. Its GDP dropped 3.4 percent in 1999, 0.8 percent in 2000 and 4.4 percent in 2001.
In 2002, the second largest country in Latin America suffered the worst economic crisis in recent years, seeing a 10.9-percent decline in GDP. Enditem | 
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