ASUNCION, June 6 (Reuters) - Paraguay's economic output grew 6.6 percent year over year in the first quarter of 2017 and grew 3.4 percent compared with the fourth quarter of last year, central bank officials told a news conference on Tuesday.
The figures were in line with the bank's expectation for 4.2 percent growth in full-year 2017. First quarter growth was propelled by commerce, services, industrial manufacturing and construction, according to central bank data.
Some private economists estimate the country, the world's fourth-largest soy exporter and a substantial beef producer, could grow 5 percent this year, one of the highest rates in the region.
"As we draw up our forecast for the year, we have an upward bias," the bank's head of economic studies Miguel Mora told reporters.
(Reporting by Mariel Cristaldo; Writing by Luc Cohen; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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