France raises its 2017 growth forecast to 2 pct

This is the highest rate in six years

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS (AA) - France's 2017 GDP growth has been revised upwards to 2 percent, a rate that has not been observed since 2011, the country’s national statistics agency said on Wednesday.

"The revision of several indicators led to increase the annual estimation of GDP growth in 2017 by 0.1 points, from 1.9% to 2.0%," said a statement issued by National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE).

The new forecast is higher than 2016‘s forecast of 1.1 percent, the government's 1.7 percent projection and the central bank's 1.8 percent forecast.

The GDP growth figure for the final quarter was unchanged at 0.6 percent on quarter, INSEE said.

According to INSEE, the strong surge is particularly due to high acceleration in investment from companies (+ 4.4 percent after + 3.4 percent in 2016) and households (+ 5.4 percent after + 2.4 percent).

The good growth momentum recorded in 2017 will continue at a relatively steady pace in the beginning of 2018, according to INSEE.

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