ROSEAU, Dominica — The struggling economy of Dominica appears to be seeing improvement after nearly three years of decline, officials said Wednesday.

The island is forecast to have economic growth of about 1 per cent this year, the government said in a statement, citing an estimate from Alejandro Santos, mission chief of the International Monetary Fund in the Caribbean country.

"Dominica is coming out of the deep recession of the last few years." Santos was quoted as saying in the statement. "The economy has bottomed out and the recovery is underway."

The improved economic outlook stems from increased tourism — with nearly twice as many cruise ship passengers visits in the first quarter of 2004 than in the same period last year — and increased manufacturing and banana production, Santos said.

With a national debt of Eastern Caribbean $778 million (US$287 million), or three-fourths of gross domestic product, Dominica has been struggling to cut spending and since its two main industries — tourism and agriculture — declined severely in 2001-2002.

About 15 per cent of the former French and British colony's 70,000 people remain in extreme poverty, according to an IMF report released earlier this year.

(AP)