PARIS: France needs to start working now on plans to rein in its debt once the economy has put the coronavirus crisis firmly behind it, which is not expected until 2023, the International Monetary Fund said.
In an annual in-depth review, the IMF forecast that the eurozone’s second-biggest economy would rebound 5.5 per cent this year after contracting 9 per cent in 2020.
But it said the recovery would remain below the pre-crisis trend — when French growth was outpacing other eurozone economies — as corporate balance sheets strained by the crisis and high unemployment weighed on activity.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire (pictured) has forecast a rebound of 6 per cent this year, although he has also warned that will be challenging after a slow start to a national vaccination campaign.
With the crisis expected to leave the public sector budget deficit at 7.7 per cent of gross domestic output this year, the IMF urged the government to lose no time drawing up plans to tackle spending once the economic recovery takes hold. — Reuters
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