France Q1 GDP forecasts around -3.5%....>

FRANCE DATA: France Q1 GDP forecasts around -3.5% to -4.0% Q/Q due 0630BST

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Before the release of the EZ GDP figures at 10BST, Insee publish their Q1 data

and markets expect the French economy to decline by 4.0% in Q1 following a mild

contraction of 0.1% in Q4. Insee noted that they expect Q1 to be strongly

negative in their recent forecast, with the period including the near-shutdown

of the economy for parts of March. With the worst Covid-19 effects starting

around mid-March, some of the worst impact may not have been fully captured by

the flash data.