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France says economy contracts 0.1 pct in Q2

Xinhua, September 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

The French economy contracted by 0.1 percent in the second quarter after it had risen by 0.7 percent a quarter earlier, the national statistics institute, Insee, announced on Friday.

In its third estimate, Insee downgraded its previous forecast of zero growth for the second three months of the year following 0.1 percent decline in consumer spending compared to 1.1 percent increase in first quarter.

Enterprises investment, France's second growth driver, also fell by 0.4 percent over the period after it had accelerated by 2.1 percent for the January-March period this year, according to Insee.

The Socialist government vowed to accelerate the country's economic growth by 1.5 percent this year by breathing life into sluggish competitiveness of domestic companies and with global business climate improving.

However, economic contraction, the first such dull quarterly economic performance since 2013, is likely to throw a spanner into the government's economic target, in a blow to president Francois Hollande who said that "things are going better." Endit