2006 period, and Latin America and the Caribbean would grow at the rate of 4.25 per cent in the same period. "The high rate of growth since 2004 helps to make up for some difficult years for developing economies at the beginning of the century," said Jose Antonio Ocampo, the U.N. official who was responsible for the economic review. Ocampo said economic growth prospects would help the U.N. achieve some of the goals to reduce poverty, provide primary education to all children, fight HIV/AIDS and maternal mortality. Annan said the European Union's pledge to provide 0.7 per cent of gross national income for aid to poor countries was encouraging. He also urged the world's top industrialized nations, known as the Group of Eight, to agree on debt relief for the poorest countries when G8 leaders meet for their annual summit in Scotland next month. --SP 2342 Local Time 2042 GMT
