France on course for 0.1-0.2% growth in third quarter – central bank

PARIS (Reuters) – The French economy is on course for meagre growth in the third quarter boosted by the manufacturing, energy and services sectors, the central bank forecast on Tuesday.

The euro zone’s second-biggest economy is set to grow 0.1-0.2% in the third quarter from the previous quarter, the Bank of France said in its monthly business sentiment survey.

Basing its estimate on its monthly poll of 8,500 firms, the central bank said activity was in particular benefitting from a pick up in manufacturing as supply-chain constraints ease, with only 17% of industrial firms reporting such problems.

The reopening of nuclear plants after maintenance was boosting the energy sector while the services sector was showing resilience, the central bank said.

Meanwhile, price pressures are also easing with only 4% of industrial companies reporting they had raised prices, down from 9% the previous month and 21% in August 2022.

Service companies also reported a fall in price pressures with 8% saying they had increased prices, down from 11% last month and 15% a year ago.

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