French central bank sees "slight" second quarter growth

The euro zone's second-biggest economy grew 0.2% in the first quarter from the previous three months, boosted by a pick-up in consumer spending and business investment, the INSEE official stats agency reported last month.

The French economy is set to expand slightly in the second quarter after growing 0.2% in the first quarter, the country's central bank said on Tuesday in its monthly business survey. The Bank of France did not offer a specific estimate for second quarter growth, saying that the outlook was particularly clouded by a number of public holidays in May and the upcoming introduction of a new base year for the national accounts.

"Activity increased in April in services and more significantly than anticipated last month in industry and construction," the Bank of France said in a statement. It expected second-quarter growth to be driven by the retail activity and business services as well as information and communication firms.

The monthly survey of 8,500 firms also found executives expected industrial and construction activity to decline in May while service activity was set to stagnate due to the high number of public holidays, the Bank of France added. The euro zone's second-biggest economy grew 0.2% in the first quarter from the previous three months, boosted by a pick-up in consumer spending and business investment, the INSEE official stats agency reported last month.