PARIS (Reuters) – The French economy should register slightly positive growth in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, according to the monthly economic survey of the Banque de France (BdF) published on Wednesday.
“We expect a slightly positive rise in GDP in the second quarter after an observed growth of 0.2% in the first quarter,” the institution told reporters.
“At this stage, without prejudging the second half of the year, these results are consistent with our growth forecast of 0.6% of GDP over the year 2023 on an annual average”, she added.
According to the BdF’s business survey, conducted among business leaders between April 26 and May 4, activity increased in April in industry, services and construction.
In addition, for the first time since the summer of 2020, manufacturers believe that prices are falling for raw materials and stabilizing for finished products.
“This tends to confirm our scenario of a start of a decline in inflation during the second half of the year 2023”, commented the central bank to journalists.
Supply difficulties continue to ease in construction with only 17% of companies citing them as a problem in April. The trend is also downward in industry (28% in April against 30% in March).
For the month of May, companies anticipate a stabilization of activity in services and a decline in industry and construction, according to the survey.
“These expectations could, however, at least partly reflect the effect of a higher volume of holidays than usual during this month”, specifies the BdF in a note.
(Report by Zhifan Liu, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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