Costa Rica slashes 2009 economic growth forecast

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SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, March 25 (Reuters) - Costa Rica's government has sharply reduced its forecast for economic growth this year and now expects output to grow only 0.5 percent, a senior government official said.

The new forecast is far below the previous estimate of 2.2 percent growth but given the state of the global economy any growth would be good news, said government spokesman Rodrigo Arais.

'Even if the growth is zero it isn't so bad,' Arais said. Costa Rica has adjusted its growth forecasts downward several times in recent months as the global economic slowdown has worsened. In October, officials estimated that 2009 growth would be 5 percent.

(Reporting by John McPhaul; editing by Carol Bishopric) Keywords: COSTARICA ECONOMY/

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