Reforms could add 3.7pc to French growth over 10 years, says OECD

IMF President Christine Lagarde (right) poses with OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria, prior to a meeting with International economic organisations at the OECD in Paris.

PARIS: The moribund French economy could get a sharp boost each year over a decade if highly controversial reforms to help businesses are enacted, predictions from the OECD showed. Such changes could add 0.4 percent to economic output every year over the next 10 years, it said, with the total benefit amounting to 3.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

In the next five years, as the measures take effect, the benefit could equate to 0.3 percent of output each year, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development said.

The calculations by the Paris-based body, a policy forum for 34 advanced democracies including France, point to a significant extra benefit since France’s economy is set to grow by only 0.4 percent this year. “To put the French on the path to stronger growth, but also more inclusive, requires the reinforcement of structural reforms started in 2012,” OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said in a statement with the report.

France’s economic growth has sunk into the doldrums this year, held back by near record unemployment and the government’s huge pile of debt, which has put it on a collision course with the European Union. AFP