“In 2026, the French economy is at a standstill”: Roland Lescure believes that France “is not going to crisis” but assures that it will “go into the wall” without a budget

Roland Lescure could only see the damage this Friday on France Info. Guest of the morning, the Minister of the Economy was able to give his first impressions on the growth figures for the third quarter. After a first quarter in decline and a second in stagnation, the July-September period shows a further decline of 0.1% in GDP.

“It has been three quarters that growth has not been there,” he regretted. The conclusion is that in 2026, the French economy is at a standstill due to the unprecedented combination of external and internal shocks: the heatwave and the Strait of Hormuz. We need to restart it.”

To relaunch it, the Franco-Canadian believes that we must “restore confidence” to market players. He identified several priorities: voting on a budget, lowering prices at the pump and a stability pact with businesses. “What was missing was agricultural production, with the heatwave, but also investment,” he notes.

If he assures that he feels "neither optimistic nor pessimistic", regarding the evolution in the next few months, he maintains >> More information to come on BFM Business in a few moments. Also watch live from BFM Business on video and follow us on X.

Machine-translated from French