France: Business confidence stabilizes through February

In February, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies’ (INSEE) business-climate indicator for the manufacturing sector was stable from a month earlier at 103 points. As a result, the indicator remained above its 100-point long-run average.

February’s print reflected firms’ improved views on the sector’s output prospects over the short-term , although they were less upbeat on their own output prospects. Meanwhile, firms were less downbeat on current export orders.

France Fixed Investment Forecast

FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists see fixed investment growing 2.8% in 2019, which is unchanged from last month’s estimate. For 2020, the panel sees fixed investment expanding 2.6%.