Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said Wednesday on France 5 that “we should not expect an improvement on the inflation front before the start of 2023.”
But “today we do not have a scenario on the table that foresees double-digit inflation in France,” the minister added, as consumer prices rose 6.1% annually in July, according to INSEE.
In the UK, inflation is running at 10.1% and is expected to rise to more than 18% in 2023, according to Citi Bank. In France, “in the coming weeks and months, until the end of 2022, we will continue to have very high prices. Then in early 2023, at least that’s what we expect, in the first quarter of 2023, we should start to see prices and inflation come down. It will happen gradually,” said Bruno Le Maire.
“Now is the time to help the French more”
In a daily interview southwest published on Sunday, the minister had declared that France was “at the peak of inflation”. Consequently, “it is now that we must help the French the most” before directing aid “to those who need it most” from 2023, he explained.
Regarding the risk of recession in the euro zone, Bruno Le Maire estimated on France 5 that “everything will depend on Vladimir Putin’s decisions on gas. If he ever decides to cut gas supplies to the EU and the euro zone, we are evaluating the impact on growth, only for France, at half a point of GDP, and probably more for other economies more dependent on Russian gas than we are”. “It is in the issue of Russian gas where part of the growth in Europe will be at stake in the coming months”, according to the minister.
Growth in the euro zone was 0.6% in the second quarter compared to the previous quarter, and 0.5% in France. But private sector activity contracted in August in the euro zone, and also in France, although less sharply, according to PMI indices published on Tuesday by S&P Global.
Source: BFM TV
