Banque de France upholds growth forecast in Q4 2014
Xinhua, January 12, 2015 Adjust font size:
French central bank, Banque de France (BdF), on Monday kept unchanged a previous forecast of 0.1 percent growth over the last three months of 2014.
In its quarterly estimate for 2014, the French bank said industrial business was stable in December as a rebound in the agri-food, pharmaceutical and transport equipment sectors was offset by a fall in the chemical and metalworking activities.
The BdF added industrial capacity rate inched down by 0.2 percent to 76.2 percent with the order books' level recorded slight improvement. In short term, the bank forecasted boosted industrial activity.
As for service sector, the activity gained ground thanks to positive results of temporary work, consulting and engineering sectors.
Based on the sentiments of business leaders, the bank expected a growth in services businesses in January.
Indicators of industry lost one point to 96 while those of services stood at 91 points, down by two points.
France had set 2014 growth rate at 0.4 percent and at 1 percent for this year. Endit