PARIS (Reuters) – French business confidence has recovered in August to its peak since France entered a coronavirus blockade despite the rise of new infections, a poll showed on Thursday.
INSEE, the official statistics agency, said its monthly weather turnover increased from 84 to 91, peaking since March, when in the middle of the month, the government placed France under one of Europe’s strictest blockades.
Business confidence has recovered since the government began lifting the blockade on May 11, as companies struggled to meet demand for repressed visitors.
INSEE said the survey showed that the prospects of non-public business leaders were relaxing in August despite the overall improvement, suggesting that much of the recovery has already been ongoing.
“Recovery speed could decrease in the coming months,” INSEE said in a note accompanying the survey.
The general uptick in confidence came when the government fought this month to involve an increase in new COVID-19 cases when the French went on summer vacation.
This has fueled fears of a momentary wave of infections as winter approaches, which could derail France’s economic recovery from a record recession in the first part of the year.
In a quarterly survey at the time, INSEE said that commercial corporations had indicated their goal of reducing their investments this year by 11%, with a 7% decrease expected in the last April survey.
Reporting through Leigh Thomas, edited through Larry King
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