French prime minister Francois Fillon said today that he expected the domestic economy to grow by at least 1 per cent in 2008.
"We think 2008 will be a year of positive growth, slightly more than 1 per cent," he told Europe 1 radio in an interview.
France was likely to continue growing in 2009 rather than experience any contraction, he said.
"There will only be a recession if we experience negative growth but the US economy has picked up again and I think the situation will be restored," he said.
The global economy was likely to grow this year although it might advance at a lesser rate compared with 2007, he said.
The only way for France to ride out the current economic malaise was to improve the competitiveness of domestic companies, he added.
France's economy contracted unexpectedly by 0.3 per cent in the second quarter as a weak rise in consumer spending failed to make up for a fall in investment and foreign trade, fuelling fears of a possible recession.
Reuters