A source close to Economy Minister Christine Lagarde is quoted in the Le Figaro newspaper as saying the French economy could shrink by 1% in the first quarter of 2009.
The French government presently expects the economy to contract by 1.5% in 2009, but worse than expected industrial output numbers for January could well change those estimates.
The source stated “our expectations for a 1.5% decrease this year were based on an estimate of a 0.4% contraction in the first quarter” adding “given the sharp fall in industrial production in January, we don’t exclude that there will be a contraction of 1 percent in the first quarter.”
