March 17, 2003	Monday	Muharram 13, 1424

PARIS, March 16: Most French companies queried as to whether a war with Iraq has changed in any way their habits, say that a US attack on Saddam Hussein should have little impact on their operations.

Most companies, indeed, had scaled down their forecasts — and their expectations — for 2003, and this not so much because of a possible war with Iraq, but rather as a function of the increasingly uncertain economic climate that has affected French businesses since September 11, 2001.

A spokesman for Nexans, second leading producer of cables, said, “if there is war, then we don’t expect to make any substantial changes to our operating plans, especially as we had already based our forecast for 2003 on a mediocre world economic climate brought about largely by Sept 11.”