May 20, 2006	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 21, 1427

PARIS, May 19: The French economy is set for growth of 2.0-2.5 per cent this year and privatisations will cut national debt quicker than planned, Finance Minister Thierry Breton said Friday, bringing bright news for the beleaguered government.

Breton also said that unemployment, the bete noire of successive French governments, would fall to below 9.0 per cent before the end the year. The latest monthly figures put unemployment at 9.5 per cent in March.

Breton was speaking after official data had shown that growth of the French economy had accelerated to 0.5 per cent in the first quarter from 0.3 per cent in the last quarter of last year.

He said that growth “is set on an annual trend” of 2.0-2.5 per cent, adding that expansion was being driven by consumer spending and exports.

Nevertheless, analysts reacted with disappointment to the figures for the first quarter, saying growth was a result of a recovery in the broader eurozone and was being driven, unsustainably, by consumers spending on credit.

The growth fell short of the expectations of The Bank of France, which had signalled a figure of 0.7 per cent, and economists who were expecting 0.6 per cent.—AFP