French consumer confidence improves in November: Insee

PARIS, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- France's consumer confidence index recorded an upward trend in November compared to last month's performance, returning above its long-term average of 100 points, the national statistics bureau Insee said Tuesday.

Over the period, the monthly sentiment indicator stood at 102, up two points from October's figure, it said.

Households showed their financial balance improved by two points at minus 19, while they expressed more optimism for the future. Their willingness to save increased sharply by 7 points, the report showed.

Consumer opinions showed more anticipation of a better economic situation whose index gained 4 points to minus 18. Their sentiment about their past standard of living over the past year was almost stable at minus 40.

In November, households' fears about unemployment decreased with the corresponding indicator losing 7 points compared to October.

In its first budget draft since President Emmanuel Macron took office in May, the government forecast the budget gap to be 2.6 percent in 2018 compared to 2.9 percent expected for 2017, down from previous estimates of 2.7 percent and 3 percent respectively.

The country's gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to rise by 1.8 percent this year, from an initial target of 1.7 percent, due to improved economic activities at home and in the eurozone. Enditem