FRANCE: 2020 A RECORD BREAKING YEAR

A few days out from Christmas, 2020 has been an exceptional year in many respects. From a macroeconomic point of view, 2020 is a year that hit so many “records”, with an unprecedented recession of around 9.5%, huge job destruction and massive state support to the economy estimated at nearly €490 billion, financed by public borrowing so that an impressive deterioration of public finances is expected, with the deficit and public debt reaching record levels . T hese impressive figures are due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The French economy was relatively resilient until the end of 2019. The pandemic put an end to the economic expansion turning the dynamic of the activity into a s top -and-g o mode driven by the waves of the epidemic and the restrictive measures imposed to deal with it. Following the two lockdowns, the French economy is expected to contract by 9.5% in 2020, but growth is likely to rebound by around 5.4% starting in 2021 before slowing moderately towards 2.7% in 2022, supported by a €100 billion “ recovery Plan” .