French Consumers Spending More

Consumer spending in France has risen beyond analyst expectations over the last two months fuelling speculation that inflation could soon become a significant problem, according to official figures released today.

In figures released by statistics office INSEE, French consumer spending over July and August was around 1%, vastly exceeding earlier analyst expectations of 0.2% and 0.3% respectively for the same period.

The figures, when aggregated with growth of 1.6% over the month of June highlight the best summer for French consumer growth in over ten years, which many are suggesting to be a direct result of ongoing economic reform in the country led by President Sarkozy.

With a traditionally weak exporting sector compounded by a very strong central currency, the French economy has become more and more reliant on domestic spending in recent years, which looks now to be enjoying something of a revival at decade high levels.

The figures released by INSEE today reflected a particular growth in car sales over the last two months, whilst household goods and equipment also experienced growth of around 3.7% on an aggregated basis over the last couple of months.

The news comes just a few weeks after the Bank of France publicly suggested that the French economy would surpass European Commission forecasts, reflecting something of an economic revolution in the traditionally sluggish central European economy.

With economic reform high on the agenda, French authorities are continuing to work to stimulate economic growth in spite of restrictive Eurozone growth policy at present which have seen countries across the thirteen nation Eurozone experiencing sluggish economic growth in the face of inflationary pressures

Whilst this has resulted in some political pressures within France as of late, many analysts are welcoming the steps as a move towards a more significant economic recovery.

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