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France to dodge recession but outlook looks less rosy

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
France to dodge recession but outlook looks less rosy
Photo: AFP

France will just about avoid a recession but the economic outlook is not as positive as was first forecast.

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France is set to dodge a technical recession, according to the latest forecasts by the national statistics agency Insee released on Thursday, although it cut its outlook for annual growth to 1.3 percent.

Insee expects the French economy to have expanded by 0.2 percent in the third quarter, after having contracted by 0.1 percent in April through June.

A recession is typically defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.

While growth will likely pick up further in the final three months of the year, Insee cut its forecast for the year from 1.6 percent to 1.3 percent.

This is below the government's forecast of 1.5 percent growth, but Finance Minister Michel Sapin said French growth remained "solid".

France's economy grew by 1.2 percent last year.

"Insee's forecasts don't call into question our public deficit target for 2016 nor our growth forecast for 2017," Sapin said in a statement.

Insee also forecast a 0.1 percent drop in the unemployment rate to 9.5 percent at the end of the year.

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