Even Italy, where total quarantine was introduced due to the coronavirus outbreak, faced fewer economic losses than France.
This is reported by the publication “Le Monde”.
Against the backdrop of the pandemic, the French government has spared no money for the program to help entrepreneurs. It was one of the most expensive in the European Union. Paris made up for the salaries of those who were transferred to part-time employment. Thanks to this, companies could not dismiss their employees, which was supposed to speed up economic recovery in the post-coronavirus period.
In practice, it turned out to be different, and France is showing some of the worst results in the EU. Thus, according to forecasts, its GDP will decline by 10% in 2020.
The situation was commented on by economist Philippe Escand, who called the event “a French paradox. He drew attention to Sweden, where there was no quarantine at all, and the economy even shows small growth. At the same time there is Italy with its total quarantine and about five percent decline in GDP. So why is France twice as big? The answer lies in the government’s decision to flood the crisis with money.
Even those sectors of the economy, which were not banned, have stopped working in the country. At the same time, business was in no hurry to resume work, because the authorities have compensated the costs. Eskand is sure that another three months of such a “semi-annual” state of affairs will turn into a major crisis for France, which will affect each sector of the economy.