BERLIN, Jan 19 - Germany's economy grew by around 0.25 percent quarter on quarter in the last three months of 2003, boosted by increased industrial production and new orders, the Bundesbank said on Monday. "The economic recovery of the German economy has continued at a moderate pace in the fourth quarter of 2004," the Bundesbank said in its January monthly report. Industrial production, about a quarter of the economy, increased for a second straight month in November and new orders rose for a third month. However, the Bundesbank said November production may have been boosted by firms increasing output in anticipation of people taking time off during the Christmas period. In addition, October figures may have benefited from their comparison with the quiet holiday months of August and September, the Bundesbank said.
The projected growth was not enough to prevent a contraction in the economy in 2003, as official data released by the Federal Statistics Office last week showed gross domestic product had shrunk by 0.1 percent over the year. In the third quarter of 2003, German GDP expanded by 0.2 percent following two consecutive quarters of contraction, defined technically as a recession. Prior to the release of the GDP data, analysts polled by had predicted that fourth quarter growth would reach 0.5 percent. The government has forecast the economy will grow between 1.5 and 2.0 percent in 2004, roughly in line with most private sector expectations, helped by an increase in working days as a number of public holidays will fall on weekends. The Federal Statistics Office is due to publish GDP data for the fourth quarter of 2003 on February 19.//