TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - BNP Paribas chief economist Ryutaro Kono said this morning's second quarter GDP was in line but added that it will increase pressure on the Bank of Japan and the government to stimulate the economy. "It was very close to our expectations," he said "Based on this figure, the year's economic growth must be negative, so political pressure will build on the Bank of Japan and the government to form a stimulus package," he said, adding that he sees a 0.6 pct contraction for 2001. "We believe the economy will bottom out in the fourth quarter (to March 2002) but the government has decided to cut expenditure especially on public works ... so next year we will see minus growth," he said. Kono said the space for a sizable supplementary budget is "very very limited", adding: "I don't think they need a supplementary budget; it is very bad policy because public money always goes to inefficient spending. "New job creation is good but in this economic environment how should we do that?", he said. "In the short-term, we can't have sustained growth based on public spending."