France's Hollande sees zero-growth in H1
2012-07-09 15:53:34
French President Francois Hollande on Monday said the country's gross domestic product (GDP) will stagnate during the first half of 2012, urging further efforts to quicken growth enough to alleviate the unemployment burden.
"Everyone knows that for the first half of the year, growth will be zero," Hollande said during a social conference.
"Therefore we must mobilize all our forces for sustainable growth for the coming years. Return to strong growth is an obligation to develop employment," he added.
On Monday, France's Central Bank confirmed its last month's forecast of 0.1-percent contraction of the country's growth in the second quarter due to weak local demand.
In previous report, the national statistics bureau, Insee expected France's growth to stagnate in the second quarter before rising by 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent in the third and last quarter respectively in a way to reach 0.4 percent for the whole year of 2012.