Buenos Aires : Argentina's economy expanded last year at the slowest pace since pulling out of a recession in 2003, as a global crisis choked exports and agricultural output fell because of the worst drought in a century.
Gross domestic product grew 0.9 per cent in 2009, the National Statistics Institute said on Friday in Buenos Aires.
GDP grew 2.6 per cent in the fourth quarter from the same period in 2008 and 1.9 percent from the third quarter. GDP had expanded an average 8.5 per cent per year from 2003 through 2008.
Official data have been questioned by economists and politicians including Vice President Julio Cobos since former President Nestor Kirchner changed personnel at the statistics agency in 2007.
Economists at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs Group and Buenos Aires-based Ecolatina said GDP contracted in 2009, the first decline since a drop of 11 per cent in 2002.
Contracted
According to Ecolatina, Argentina's GDP shrank 3.8 per cent in 2009, the second-biggest contraction in Latin America after Mexico. Mexico's economy last year contracted 6.5 per cent.
"Last year the economy suffered one of the worst droughts in its history, drastically cutting agricultural output and pulling down production of goods," Ecolatina said.
Agriculture production in Argentina, Latin America's third- biggest economy after Brazil and Mexico, fell 15.8 per cent, while exports fell 6.4 per cent, according to the statistics institute. Investment fell 10.2 percent, the report said.
The peso weakened 0.1 per cent to 3.8633 per dollar on Friday from 3.8593 Thursday.
