LISBON (AFP) -- The Bank of Portugal said Tuesday it may raise its economic growth forecast for 2006 for a second time this year because gross domestic product expanded by a faster-than-expected rate in the second quarter.

"It is possible that the dynamic of the second quarter will justify a new upwards revision of our forecast," central bank governor Vitor Constancio said at a meeting in Lisbon of central bank governors from Portuguese-speaking African nations.

The bank will wait for economic data from the month of August before making any revision, Constancio said.

The Bank of Portugal surprised many economists in July when it raised its economic growth forecast for 2006 to 1.2 percent from 0.8 percent, citing strong export growth on the back of a stronger European economy.

Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos reiterated that the government was also considering an upward revision of its growth forecast for this year, most likely when it table its budget proposal for 2007 next month.

"I think it is premature at this moment to put forward a precise number, I think what is important is to signal the intention of an upwards revision," he said during an interview with state-run television RTP.

The government predicts the economy will expand by 1.1 percent this year and by 1.8 percent in 2007 after growing just 0.3 last year.

Portugal's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 0.9 percent in the second quarter of 2006 compared to the same time last year and by the amount compared with the first quarter, the national statistics institute reported Friday.

The performance exceeded the expectations of analysts, who had predicted growth of around 0.2 percent on a 12-month basis.