Bank of France: Q1 GDP to see the deepest quarterly downturn on record
|France’s central bank, Bank of France, released its quarterly forecasts for the economy, highlighting that the Q1 GDP is likely to see the deepest quarterly downturn on record.
France's economy likely contracted 6% in the first quarter from the previous three months.
That would be the biggest contraction on a quarterly basis since World War II, surpassing the previous record of -5.3% in the second quarter of 1968 when France was gripped by civil unrest.
A typical week of confinement in march reduced economic activity by 32%.
Estimates each two-week period of confinement reduces annual GDP by 1.5 percentage points.
Industrial capacity utilization fell to record low of 56% in March from 78% in February.
EUR/USD weaker into European open
The common currency ran through fresh on news that the Eurogroup has failed to reach a deal on a coordinated policy response to tackle the coronavirus crisis.
At the time of writing, EUR/USD drops 0.45% to 1.0838, having hit fresh daily lows at 1.0830.
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