PARIS (Reuters) – The French economy should avoid falling into recession at the end of the current quarter, after contracting over the January-March period, the Banque de France (BdF) said on Tuesday in its point of view. conjuncture.
The central bank expects the economy to grow by 0.25% quarter on quarter over the April-June period, after a contraction of 0.20% in the first quarter. She said last month to expect an increase of 0.20% in the current quarter.
“After the decline in the first quarter, activity in Q2 would show resilience, that is to say that clearly we would not have a recession in the French economy”, declared the chief economist of the Banque de France, Olivir Garnier, during a press briefing.
In its economic update, the central bank relies in particular on the results of its monthly survey of 8,500 companies, whose leaders say they expect a slight improvement in activity in the service sector in June, an activity stable in industry, but a slight decline in construction.
According to the survey, 61% of industrial companies reported supply difficulties in May, compared to 64% the previous month. These difficulties have increased slightly for the construction sector (55% last month, against 54% in April).
Although the increase in the prices of raw materials and finished products was less in the industrial sector, 42% of business leaders in the sector indicated that they had raised their prices in May, after 41% in April. In services, the percentage did not change last month (24%).
(Report Leigh Thomas, French version Jean Terzian)
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