PARIS (AFP) -Almost all industrial sectors in France have recorded a drop in activity amid surging energy prices and growing uncertainty, a monthly business survey by the Bank of France released this week reveals.
The French regulator has polled 8,500 companies, who reported stabilization instead of the expected slow growth. The ongoing energy crisis has had a significant negative impact on the country’s industrial output, with some companies already resorting to layoffs.
As energy costs keep rising there’s no optimism apparent, with business leaders predicting further stagnation in October. While services are scrambling to resist the crisis, according to the report, industrial sectors are facing a slowdown. The Bank of France has cut its economic growth assessment for the third quarter from 0.3% to 0.25%.
Electricity prices, which are linked to gas prices, have surged in France, putting a strain on factories and testing the limits of government measures to mitigate the higher costs.
A large number of French industrial companies said they’d suffered consequences from the energy crisis and that their production bottlenecks had affected profitability.
“Industry is starting to suffer, and that’s the phenomenon that’s a bit new and which unfortunately isn’t very surprising because it’s linked to the strong rise in energy bills,” Bank of France Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau told France Culture radio this week.
He reaffirmed that the bank is expecting 2.6% growth this year, which will be followed by a “clear slowdown” next year.