French Business Sentiment Climbs as Exports Help End Recession
French business confidence rose for a sixth month in August after recovering exports and government stimulus helped end the worst recession since World War II.
The Bank of France’s Business Sentiment Indicator climbed to 89 from 87 in July, the central bank said today. That’s the highest since August 2008. The Bank of France also forecast today that the country’s gross domestic product will grow 0.3 percent in the third quarter.
France’s businesses began benefiting from a return to growth in the second quarter after being buffeted by a recession the previous year. Economists are now looking for signs that the economy, the euro region’s second largest, will keep expanding in the final months of the year as demand picks up further guaranteed online payday loans.
“The outlook for coming months is fairly positive,” said Dominique Barbet, an economist at BNP Paribas in Paris. Further inventory building and sustained consumer demand “should be felt by companies,” he said.
Gross domestic product rose 0.3 percent in the second quarter from the first, when it shrank 1.3 percent, according to Insee, the national statistics office. Exports jumped 1 percent in the period after falling 7.1 percent in the previous quarter.
Filed under: economics by Finance Boss