PARIS (MNI) – After a difficult first half, 2012 could bring a
rebound in French economic activity, provided confidence is restored
rapidly, Finance Minister Francois Baroin said Friday.
“The slowdown is here,” the minister said in a radio interview.
“The first half will certainly be difficult.”
Yet if the mode of governance in the Eurozone is changed, if a
firewall is erected to halt contagion and if banks are protected via
recapitalization, “the rebound can be more rapid” than during the
“classic” crises of the past, he argued.
Baroin stuck to his forecast for 1% domestic GDP growth next year
and reiterated that a third package of austerity measures is not in
preparation, explaining that next year’s budget had been draw up with
“caution”.
“What we don’t want is what is happening in Greece,” he said. This
scenario “is not threatening us, because we are doing what we must” on
the fiscal side.
The minister avoided prescriptions for monetary policy, reminding
that the European Central Bank is “independent”. Nevertheless, he
highlighted the coordinated liquidity measures taken this week by the
world’s leading central banks as a “very important element of stability”
which should help avert a credit crunch.
Even if this “unprecedented crisis” appears to be taking a turn for
the worse, “the response is positive,” he said.
— Paris bureau: 331 4271 5540; email: ssandelius@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$F$$$,M$X$$$,M$$CR$,MGX$$$]
