ANTIBES, France (AFP) — French Budget Minister Eric Woerth downplayed a forecast by the state statistics agency that the country has dipped into recession, saying it is in a period of "very weak growth".
"In essence, France is not in a recession. One percent growth" over the entire year, "that's not a recession, it's very weak growth," he said Thursday at a gathering in southern France of lawmakers from the ruling conservative UMP party.
The state statistics agency Insee has forecasted that France's gross domestic product dropped by 0.1 percent in the third quarter, after dipping 0.3 percent in the second quarter.
A recession is usually defined by economists as at least two consecutive quarters of economic contraction. Insee forecasts France's economy will also contract by 0.1 percent in the final quarter of this year.
"There is a technical and statistical definition of a recession and then there is the reality of things," said Woerth, but added: "We're not going to fight over the numbers. The slowdown is sharp and crisis is clearly very serious."
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde also shied away from using the word recession.
"We're in a difficult economic situation because of the shocks we've sustained, the financial crisis that has hit. Measures to support the development of economic activity need to be put into place, and that's what we're in the process of doing," she said.
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