“We are going to review our growth from 6 to 5%”, said the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, in the weekly ‘Le Journal du Dimanche’
The French Government lowered the forecast for growth of the country’s economy in 2021 on Monday by one percentage point, to 5%, due to the impact of the new restrictions in force
to stop the pandemic.
“Closing school establishments and 150,000 shops is essential to curb the circulation of the virus, but these measures will have an impact on the economy. We are going to review our growth from 6 to 5%,” said Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire , in
the weekly Le Journal du Dimanche.
Until now, there was a light confinement in 19 departments, with the closure of non-essential shops or internal travel restrictions, but last Wednesday, the president, Emmanuel Macron, decided to extend it to the entire country.
This extension officially entered into force on Saturday at 7:00 p.m., the usual time for the start of the curfew, and will last for a month.
“I understand the immense concern of the merchants. We will continue to support them. We will allow them to receive a monthly aid of up to 200,000 euros from the Solidarity Fund. We will also compensate part of their unsold reserves. And the rents of the companies that are high
they will be assumed up to a limit of 10 million euros, “he said.
Le Maire specified that the total estimated cost of these aid in April will be 11,000 million euros.
“The presidential promise of ‘whatever the cost will be kept’. It will allow us to recover faster and stronger when sanitary restrictions are lifted,” added the minister. In 2020, the French economy fell 8.2%.
