French Economy Braced for New Shock From Virus Lockdown

(Bloomberg) -- New measures to contain the coronavirus in France are slightly looser than in the first lockdown. Even so, Bloomberg Economics estimates that if the restrictions announced Wednesday last a month, they could strip a further 2% off fourth-quarter gross domestic product on top of the 1.1% decline already forecast, with risks clearly to the downside. Every week of enforced closures of hospitality and leisure venues -- trimming activity back to its April level -- is estimated to lower quarterly growth by about 0.2 percentage point.

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