LONDON, April 25 - The British economy will still achieve a healthygrowth rate this year despite a weak performance by struggling manufacturers, anindependent report from analysts Business Strategies said on Wednesday. Britain, which recorded 3.0 percent GDP growth in 2000, is being buffeted by anumber of factors this year, including the sharp slowdown in global demand andproblems caused by the foot-and-mouth farming crisis. According to Business Startegies, world trade in manufactures is now exepcted togrow by less than half of last year's rate and UK manufacturing output is forecast togrow by just 0.8 percent this year, compared with the 1.9 percent rate forecast threemonths ago. "The short-term outlook contains serious risks, but excessive pessimism is unjustified,"said Peter Gutmann, associate director of Business Strategies. "The UK economy is fundamentally sound, and the 'most likely' outcome for this yearis that it will withstand the effects of the global slowdown reasonably well, and is oncourse for healthy growth of 2.6 percent." The forecast echoed comments by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown whoon Tuesday said Britain was well placed to withstand the global economic slowdown. A leaked draft of the International Monetary Fund's twice-yearly report on the worldeconomy at the weekend trimmed its forecast of Britain's 2001 growth rate to 2.6percent from 2.7 percent