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PARIS, Dec 18 (Reuters) - No European country will avoid recession in 2009 but France was resisting better than some of its European partners, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Thursday.
The French economy grew by 0.1 percent in the third quarter after shrinking by 0.3 percent in the second, unexpectedly avoiding recession, but analysts expect conditions to worsen and the government has slashed growth forecasts for next year.
"Since the start of this crisis, France is resisting rather better than other European countries," Fillon said in an interview on Europe 1 radio.
"In 2009, no European country will avoid recession," he said.
The government's new forecast for the euro zone's second-biggest economy is that it will grow by 0.2 to 0.5 percent next year.
Analysts say President Nicolas Sarkozy may need to top up his 26 billion euro ($36.4 billion) stimulus plan, mostly aimed at investment, to provide more immediate help to the economy.
Fillon said a second stimulus package was "not on the agenda right now" but he did not rule out the possibility of a new plan at some point next year.
"I'm not excluding anything. We've decided, with the president, to be extremely pragmatic and responsive to adapt to the economic situation. I think the stimulus plan we have proposed will provide a boost to the economy in 2009," he said. (Reporting by Sophie Louet and Estelle Shirbon, editing by Mike Peacock)