{"text":[[{"start":9.2,"text":"The French economy shrank 0.1 per cent in the third quarter, missing expectations, as a steep rise in borrowing costs, high energy prices and rising political instability hit the Eurozone’s second-largest economy."}],[{"start":22.44,"text":"GDP contracted by 0.1 per cent in the three months to the end of September, according to a flash estimate from statistical office Insee published on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a 0.1 per cent increase in GDP."}],[{"start":38.36,"text":"The quarterly contraction marks the second this year for the French economy following a 0.2 per cent fall in the first three months of the year. The economy stagnated in the second quarter."}],[{"start":49.84,"text":"“The conclusion is that in 2026, the French economy will be 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,” finance minister Roland Lescure told Franceinfo TV on Thursday morning."}],[{"start":68.12,"text":"The contraction last quarter was led by a 0.6 per cent drop in capital investment, offsetting a 0.4 per cent increase in household consumption in the period."}],[{"start":77.76,"text":"“These numbers aren’t pretty and will intensify pressure for faster and more extensive public sector consolidation,” wrote Claus Vistesen, economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, in a note to clients."}],[{"start":89.84,"text":"France has been hit by a bond market sell-off in recent months as investors grow increasingly concerned about the state of its public finances and the stability of its politics ahead of presidential elections in April."}],[{"start":101.46,"text":"Last week, the country’s long-term borrowing costs hit 5 per cent for the first time since 2002. Public debt is approaching 120 per cent of GDP after years of overspending and failure to institute structural reforms."}],[{"start":115.2,"text":"The premium that investors demand to hold French government bonds rather than German ones widened to as much as 1.7 percentage points this month, the highest since the Eurozone crisis, though it has since narrowed to 1.55 points."}],[{"start":128.84,"text":"“We need to give back confidence, and for that having a budget is essential,” Lescure said, noting that “regaining the confidence” of the markets was also vital."}],[{"start":137.08,"text":"The government is in the process of debating the 2027 budget with a sharply divided parliament, where no group has held a clear majority in the National Assembly since 2024 snap elections."}],[{"start":149.52,"text":"Lescure has proposed a draft budget that aims to wrangle France’s deficit down to 5 per cent next year through a €43bn package of cuts and tax rises. It also faces pressure to appease unions and students after weeks of protests over education funding and the cost of living."}],[{"start":167.56,"text":"However, lower GDP growth and higher borrowing costs are already making those targets look increasingly difficult to meet. The current draft budget assumes economic growth of 1 per cent for the country in 2027 and interest rates of 4.3 per cent on the benchmark 10-year sovereign bond."}],[{"start":186.4,"text":"If parliament does not agree on a budget, Lescure has said the government would either pass the budget using a “49.3” constitutional mechanism that allows it to bypass parliamentary vote, or by decree — a tool that has never been used before."}],[{"start":201.6,"text":"“France’s fiscal crisis might get worse before it gets better,” analysts at consultancy Oxford Economics noted earlier this week."}],[{"start":209.88,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793348248_8402.mp3"}