French economy may shrink more than forecast -report
PARIS, March 18 (Reuters) - France's economy could shrink by 1 percent in the first quarter, putting into question the government's forecasts for 2009, a French newspaper said on Wednesday, quoting a source close to Economy Minister Christine Lagarde.
The French government expects the economy to contract by 1.5 percent this year, having sharply cut its previous official forecast of 0.2-0.5 percent growth.
Lagarde confirmed that new forecast earlier this month. But newspaper Le Figaro said worse-than-expected industrial output figures for January could change those estimates.
'Our expectations for a 1.5 percent decrease this year were based on an estimate of a 0.4 percent contraction in the first quarter,' the source was quoted as saying. 'Given the sharp fall in industrial production in January, we don't exclude that there will be a contraction of 1 percent in the first quarter.'
French industrial output fell by 3.1 percent in January compared with December.