Chilean President Ricardo Lagos, whose six-year term ends in 18 months, is enjoying his highest approval rating ever as Chileans bask in economic stability and growth, said a poll released on Thursday.

His approval rating is now 57 percent compared with 47 percent six months earlier, according to the poll of 1,504 people conducted by the rightist think tank the Center for Public Studies, or CEP.

"There is strong approval of the President's economic policies and his management," CEP researcher Carmen Le Foulon told a news conference. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percent.

The survey marks the first time in CEP's twice-yearly polls that Lagos has broken above 50 percent in his approval rating.

Lagos is the third democratically elected president since ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet stepped down in 1990. The South American nation of 15 million people is now a model of economic and political stability for the region.

Chile's export-driven economy is on track for its strongest growth in seven years -the government is forecasting Gross Domestic Product will expand around 5 percent this year– due to strong demand for its major products such as copper, wood products, salmon and wine.

Le Foulon said 52 percent of those polled believe Chile's economy will continue stable, 35 percent said it will improve, and 9 percent said they think it will worsen.

According to the poll 50 percent of Chileans approve of Lagos' economic management.

The poll showed that Joaquin Lavin, expected to be the candidate for the right-wing coalition that is currently in opposition, had the most support for next year's presidential race, 31 percent.

Source: Reuters