France Avoids a Recession with Zero Growth

France’s economy managed zero growth in the second quarter of 2012, data showed on Tuesday, beating expectations it would begin a slide into recession.

In its first flash estimate for the second quarter, the national statistics institute INSEE said that French gross domestic product (GDP) was unchanged.

That confounded expectations by many economists, including the Bank of France, that slowdown plaguing much of the eurozone would push France towards recession.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici called the result “very weak” but held to the government’s forecast for a 0.3 percent growth in 2012.

Moscovici said on Europe 1 radio that zero growth “wasn’t great” but “at the same time France is not in recession” unlike “most of our partners” in the EU such as Spain, Italy and Britain.
Via Channel News Asia

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Alfonso Esparza

Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse
Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.
Alfonso Esparza