French economy recovers faster than previously thought: central bank

The French economy is emerging from the inactivity brought by the coronavirus outbreak as fast or faster than what was predicted a month earlier, Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Sunday.

Last month, the Bank of France predicted that the European zone’s second-largest economy would record a 12% performance below normal levels by the end of June. This came better than the 32% reduction seen when France implemented lockdowns in late March.

In June, the central bank had an outlook of a 15% contraction in the second quarter. Villeroy said on Sunday that it might be “a bit better”.

“The recovery is going at least as well as we expected and perhaps a little better,” Villeroy said on LCI television. The central bank is expected to release its estimate on Tuesday, drawing on responses from a monthly business poll of thousands of companies.