A “slowdown” in activity but “no risk of recession”, assures the governor of the Banque de France

Despite worrying economic signals, the Banque de France still wants to be relatively optimistic. If “there is undoubtedly a slowdown” in activity “for several quarters”, “we do not clearly see a risk of recession in France”, estimated the governor of the institution François Villeroy de Galhau this Wednesday on the set of BFM Business. “We don’t even see signs of a widespread turnaround in activity,” he added.

In August, the PMI index - which compares the volume of activity with that of the previous month - registered its third consecutive decline and its "strongest rate of contraction" in almost three years, indicated S

Proof that everything is not so bad, François Villeroy de Galhau confirmed that the Banque de France was going to “raise (its) growth forecast a little for 2023”, until now set at 0.7%. "For what ? “We had a good surprise in the second quarter (0.5%), when we expected much less,” explained the governor. Even if this remains “slowed growth”, but without being a recession, he insisted, further observing that the French economy was resisting “rather better” than other European economies.