The French economy is set to expand by 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter according to an initial forecast from the Bank of France.
ADVERTISEMENTThe French economy is set to expand by 0.3 percent quarter-on-quarter in the first three months of this year according to an initial forecast from the Bank of France.
That would be a slight deceleration from the 0.4 percent growth between October and December.
Prévision #PIB au 1er trimestre 2017 : +0,3% (première estimation) https://t.co/5JNThYRPLe
— Banque de France (@banquedefrance) February 8, 2017
The central bank also said that business leaders in the eurozone’s second-largest economy expected production to increase in February.
Its latest monthly survey of companies did show a slight softening of business sentiment in January but firms in the dominant services sector were more optimistic.
The survey responses showed order books remain “at a good level”.
Insufficient growth says Bank of France governor
The French central bank expects growth of 1.3 percent for all of this year, an improvement on 2016’s 1.1 percent. The French government is forecasting 1.5 percent.
The governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, told BFM Business that 1.3 percent growth is “insufficient”, pointing out that the average for the eurozone is 1.7 percent.
He said: “Our responsibility is therefore to accelerate [that growth], especially if we really want to reduce unemployment.”
