If France remains affected by the fifth wave of coronavirus and that nightclubs will close for four weeks, the number of cases is not the only figure on the rise in France. In Bercy, the good results of recent weeks, especially on unemployment, are confirmed. Growth in France should thus reach 6.7% in 2021, its highest rate in more than 50 years, the Governor of the Banque de France François Villeroy de Galhau said on RTL on Wednesday.
The pre-crisis level found since August
The 6.7% figure “is much higher than what was expected in the first half of the year,” he is satisfied. Indeed, the central bank was still counting on growth of 6.3% in September, while then evoking the possibility that it is rather around 6.75%. This last figure “is not a forecast, it is just a calculation in relation to the achievements” of the previous quarters, explained the director general of the institution, Olivier Garnier, on November 8.
The OECD, for its part, estimated in mid-November that France’s growth would reach 6.8% this year, but it could not yet take into account the heightened uncertainties linked to the arrival in Europe of the Omicron variant of the virus. SARS-CoV-2. According to the latest Banque de France economic report published on Tuesday evening, activity in France has returned to its pre-crisis level since August, and should stand at 0.75 percentage point in December. above this level. The central bank has yet to deliver its full forecast for 2021 and beyond on December 20.