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President Lula can be pleased with the economic record of his first year in office. Brazil's GDP grew by 2.9% last year, putting Latin America's largest economy in the world's top ten, overtaking Russia and Canada. Agriculture, boosted by record soybean and corn harvests, accounted for a third of the growth, which positively surprised both the government and the markets. However, a much smaller expansion of 1.75% is expected this year, due to the high interest rates applied by the Brazilian Central Bank to curb inflation.