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France Modifies Projected Economic Growth Rate
Bruno Le Maire, Finance Minister of France, revealed that the government has adjusted its 2024 GDP growth prediction to 1% from the previously forecasted 1.4%. The announcement emerged amid the escalating crises in Ukraine and the Middle East, and the economic slowdown experienced by its primary trading allies, Germany and China, which have cast a shadow over future projections.
Government Spending Cuts and Stimulation Strategies
In a televised interview with TF1, Le Maire declared the implementation of a 10 billion euro reduction in state expenditure across all departments and agencies. Furthermore, he guaranteed no change to existing taxation levels and pledged to uphold current social security disbursements to the populace.
Accordance with European and French Statistics Outlooks
The revised government prediction aligns closely with a recent series of downgrades in growth outlooks provided by the European Commission, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and French statistics body INSEE.
European Forecast and OECD Projections Impacting French Economy
The European Commission, on Feb. 15, lowered its 2024 French GDP growth prediction to 0.9% from 1.2% previously foreseen in November. Additionally, it reduced its outlook for Germany - the EU's leading economy - to 0.3% from 0.8%. Earlier this month, the Paris-based OECD likewise revised its growth estimate for France in 2024, dropping it to 0.6% from an earlier 0.8%.
French Official Statistics Agency Quarterly Predictions
France's official statistics agency INSEE, on Feb. 7, postulated that the economy of the euro zone's second largest nation would only expand by 0.2% in the first quarter compared to the last three months, where it experienced no expansion, and that this growth rate would stay consistent through to the second quarter.
