Peru ministry ups 2007 growth view despite quake

Peru's finance ministry said on Friday it raised its forecast for economic growth this year to 7.2 percent from 7 percent.
The ministry had said it might have raised the estimate to 7.5 percent but a powerful earthquake on Aug. 15 trimmed the new forecast.
"It is expected that the economy will expand 7.2 percent this year and 6.2 percent in 2008. The most dynamic sectors of the economy will be services like construction and commerce," the ministry said in a statement.
Peru, a minerals exporter, plans to spend millions of dollars to rebuild infrastructure along its central coast that was damaged in the earthquake. Peru's economy has been growing for six years.