French Economy Shows the Post-Lockdown Recovery Will Be Slow

(Bloomberg) -- French economic activity improved only slightly in the later stages of the virus lockdown and won’t snap back to normal levels in May despite the lifting of many restrictions, a Bank of France survey showed.

The central bank’s measure of lost activity compared with normal eased to 27% in April from 32% in March as some companies resumed low levels of production. Output will remain below usual levels in May, even as business leaders surveyed expect to step up activity after the government allowed all shops to reopen and lifted some travel restrictions.

“The ambition we could have for the end of May is to win back around another 10 points in activity,” Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on France Inter radio. The two months of strict confinement have cost the economy almost 6% in annual growth, he said.

The central bank’s cautious assessment of the economy’s capacity to rebound underscores concerns of the lasting damage of confinement measures. The government has increasingly warned that recovery will be difficult as some companies won’t survive the upheaval and jobs will be lost, despite massive government support.

Europe Faces More Slog Than Snapback in Economy From Virus

“The expected recovery in activity in May is significant in size but will be far from making up the losses of the last two months,” the Bank of France said.

France High Frequency Data Dashboard

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