Chile analysts lift '07 GDP growth view to 5.9 pct

SANTIAGO, June 7 (Reuters) - Chilean financial analysts have raised their forecasts for 2007 economic growth to 5.9 percent from 5.7 percent a month ago, a central bank poll published on Thursday showed.

They have also hiked their inflation forecasts for the year to a median of 3.2 percent from an estimate of 2.9 percent a month ago, according to the bank's monthly survey.

The revisions follow the announcement earlier this week of accelerating growth and rising inflation in Chile.

The country's economic activity index, the IMACEC, rose 6.6 percent in April compared with a year earlier, maintaining this year's strong growth trends.

Meanwhile, Chile's consumer price index rose 0.6 percent in May, pushing inflation for the 12 months to the end of May to 2.9 percent from 2.5 percent in the year to the end of April.

The data has fueled expectations of a rate hike in coming months from the central bank, which has held its target overnight lending rate at 5.00 percent for the past four months.

Thursday's central bank poll showed that the majority of analysts expected the bank to hold the rate for a further month at its next monetary policy meeting on June 14, before raising it by 25 basis points in either July or August.

They also expected a further rate rise to 5.5 percent by the end of the year.

The Chilean economy has been growing apace this year after a disappointing 2006 in which it expanded a lower-than-expected 4 percent.

The government has forecast economic growth of 5.7 percent in 2007 while the bank has predicted growth at the top end of its 5-6 percent range.

The central bank recently raised its forecast for 2007 inflation to 2.8 percent from an earlier 2.3 percent.