Paris:  The French economy is set to recover next year from the coronavirus pandemic-induced recession, but at a slower velocity than previously expected after a second nationwide lockdown was imposed in October, the Bank of France said.

According to  a statement rereleased by Xinhua  on Monday, the eurozone's second-biggest economy is set to rebound by 5 percent in 2021 and 2022 from a contraction of 9 percent in 2020. Before the second wave of the pandemic which began in September, the central bank had estimated that the country's Gross Domestic Product could shrink by 8.7 pc in 2020 and bounce back with growth of 7.4 pc in 2021 and 3 pc in 2022.

"After a drop in activity in the second quarter, during the first containment, then a very clear rebound from June to September, the French economy suffered at the end of the year a new negative shock linked to the resumption of the epidemic and health measures," the bank statement said.

On October 30, the government ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses in order to contain the second wave. "This second confinement has a significant impact but much less strong than that of spring. The GDP would consequently fall by around 9 pc over the whole of 2020," the central bank added.

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