Macron speaks during a Defense Council video-conference on Niger at
the Fort de Bregancon, southern France on August 11,
2020. Daniel Cole / POOL / AFP
France’s economy, which like those of other countries
was pushed into a bruising recession by the coronavirus, will
bounce back now that lockdown measures are lifted but will still
contract over the year as a whole, official data showed
Tuesday.
France’s gross domestic product, which had shrunk by a record
13.8 percent in the second quarter, is forecast to grow by 17
percent in the subsequent three months, the national statistics
office Insee calculated.
Nevertheless, the rebound was not quite as strong as expected
and Insee said it was sticking to its forecast for an overall
economic contraction of 9.0 percent for the year as a whole.
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If the easing of lockdown measures “has enabled a relatively
rapid rebound in parts of economic activity,” the economy is
returning after the summer break “rather like an engine that is
being cranked up and choked at the same time,” Insee said.
While activity in key areas such as air transport and culture
and entertainment continued to be throttled by the coronavirus
restrictions, some sectors were still benefitting from the
emergency economic measures put in place by the government, the
statisticians said.
Insee pointed to the risk of a “significant shock to demand”,
with consumer spending and household confidence expected to remain
below pre-crisis levels.
As a result, the economic rebound will be “less rapid” between
now and the end of the year, the agency predicted.
–AFP
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