French rebound will taper off in Q4 after COVID-19 resurgence, INSEE says
PARIS (Reuters) - France’s post-lockdown economic rebound is likely to peter out in the fourth quarter as a resurgence of new coronavirus infections weighs on business activity, the statistics agency INSEE said on Tuesday, lowering its outlook.
Growth in the euro zone’s second-biggest economy was expected to be flat in the final three months of the year from the previous quarter, down from a forecast for 1% last month, INSEE said in its quarterly outlook.
Despite the lower forecast, it said it still expected the economy to contract 9% in 2020 as a whole with activity rebounding 16% in the third quarter, down from a forecast of 17% last month.
