PARIS (Reuters) – France’s economy will barely grow in the first half of the year as consumer spending struggles to offset the impact of weak business activity and government belt tightening, the national statistics agency INSEE said on Tuesday.
After contracting 0.1% in the fourth quarter over the previous three months, the euro zone’s second-biggest economy would grow only 0.1% in the first quarter and 0.2% in the second, INSEE forecast in its outlook.
Growth would be underpinned by higher consumer spending, which was forecast to increase by 0.4% in the first quarter and 0.2% in the second quarter, thanks to wage gains.
But that would in part be offset by flat public spending, as the government struggles to rein in its budget deficit with higher taxes, weighing on the corporate sector in particular.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
