The French government is ready to officially confirm that the country’s economy will experience the worst crisis since the end of World War II in 2009, writes the French daily Le Figaro on Monday.
Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, who had previously minimized the effects of the global economic crisis on the French economy, intends to inform the government cabinet on Wednesday that the French gross domestic product (GDP) will be reduced by 1.5 percent this year. Earlier estimates by the French government for 2009 had predicted economic activity growth in the range of 0.2 to 0.5 percent. The French economy contracted by 1.2 percent in the fourth quarter of last year and is expected to officially enter a recession in the first quarter of this year, which will "also be very difficult," assessed one of Minister Lagarde’s advisors. A French government official stated on Sunday to Radio France that an additional 300,000 jobs will be lost by the end of 2009, in addition to more than 90,000 jobs eliminated in January of this year. (H)
