After a slight contraction at the end of 2008, the economy has been growing modestly this year.

ECONOMIST: But difficult to return to rapid growth

Also, the German Bundesbank said Monday the German economy has seen significant contraction heading into the end of the year.

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Stern has floated contraction as a possible means to that end.

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He warned that the country could not escape the global slowdown, saying that the economy was likely to shrink for a few more quarters this year--marking the country's first economic contraction in nearly two decades--but a rebound may occur by year's end.

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