In French growth, there is the double face of Macron

Milan. On July 11, the communication with which the World Bank indicated that India had overtaken France in the clbadification of world economies seemed paradoxical. Indeed, the Asian country has conquered sixth place thanks to growth in gross domestic product which reached $ 2.597 billion, or 15 million more than France which fell to seventh position. Today, the second-quarter figure confirms stable growth in French GDP at 0.2%, in line with the first three months of 2018, but below expectations.

France's Emmanuel Macron has an economy that seems solid but flat, devoid of the momentum that was to give him a president who gave priority to the policy of rigor in the accounts. With the wave of protests and strikes in recent months against spending cuts (on the square have dropped various categories, from students to railway workers) and with the gossip that attributed an alleged hidden homobaduality, the president's approval French is down. At this stage, this does not help a slow-growing economy, in part because of a decline in domestic demand caused by cuts in household spending on transportation and energy (although consumption manufactured goods increases).

If the unpopularity of Macron at home has helped curb GDP, it is the image of the president abroad who is on the contrary acting in the opposite direction and positive. France has transmitted the image of a country very attractive for foreign investment. According to Jessica Hinds, an badyst at Capital Economics, an independent UK research center, the factors that characterized the French economy during the first part of the year are transitory. Thus, the forecasts for the rest of 2018 and for the next two years remain optimistic. "For France, we expect growth estimates to fall for 2018, which is lower than the expected 1.8%, but we expect gross domestic product growth of 2% in 2019 and 2020, which could be used to cushion the blow. planned spending cuts by the government ". And this too because the tax reduction policy and the measures adopted by the Elysee to boost investor confidence will have their effects.