France’s economy set to rebound from COVID-19 recession, grow by 5 pct: Central bank

The French economy will rebound strongly this year from a deep recession sparked by COVID-19, the country’s central bank chief said on Tuesday.

Growth will reach at least five percent in 2021, Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told France Info radio, a forecast that “comforted” a prediction the bank made in December.

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“The recession is behind us,” he said.

French GDP slumped 8.3 percent in 2020, national statistics bureau Insee estimated in late January, saying that downturn had turned out to be less brutal than originally forecast.

A massive drop in consumer spending was behind much of the 2020 decline, while investment and foreign trade held up well, it said.

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