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PARIS (Reuters) – France’s overall economic growth should come in at 1.1% for the full year of 2024, Finance Minister Antoine Armand said on Wednesday, adding it was not enough to give extra headroom on the public finances.
Speaking in a parliamentary hearing for the first time since being appointed this weekend, Armand said that household savings remained high, which was delaying a recovery in consumer spending, the traditional motor behind the French economy.
A downward revision to Airbus’ expected deliveries will also weigh on exports in the short term after aircraft shipments boosted growth in the first half of the year, the minister said.
“I can confirm that growth should be 1.1%, slightly above what was forecast by the previous government last spring,” Armand told the finance committee in the lower house of parliament.
“Let’s be clear, this growth is insufficient to give us any room to move on the public finances,” he added.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas, editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Tassilo Hummel)