During the last five years, by cutting imports and expanding exports, Latin America has been able to finance $145 billion in debt payments.

The economists said Washington should try to cut domestic demand and imports further, and must go beyond its recent deficit reductions.

She called for cutting imports in half by 2025.

This required governments to cut public spending and imports, and increase exports, in exchange for fresh loans, or extending old ones over longer periods.

A bill that passed the House over Administration opposition last September would cut imports from all countries to 1 percent growth.

The only solution, Mr. Castro has said, is to cut imports from the West to half of last year's $1.2 billion.

The first was the economy's very sluggish growth in 1989 and 1990, followed by the recession - not a healthy way to cut imports.

To ease those financial strains, the Government could have chosen to cut subsidies or to cut imports.

The Conference Board of Canada, another business group, estimated the tax would cut imports by at least $2.5 billion in both years.

And the addition of ethanol will cut imports by only 9,000 barrels out of about eight million barrels a day.