Five Charts on France’s Policy Priorities to Navigate the COVID-19 Crisis
Place de Carrousel in Paris after the first lockdown. The pandemic and lockdown measures have caused the deepest recession in France since World War II. (photo: legna69 by Getty Images)
By Jeffrey Franks, Bertrand Gruss, Manasa Patnam, and Sebastian Weber
January 19, 2021
France has been severely affected by the global pandemic, both in terms of health and economic impact. The key priority for the country remains saving lives while minimizing the economic costs of the pandemic.
The government should therefore maintain adequate fiscal support to households and firms, preserve financial stability, and facilitate a sustained economic transformation as the recovery strengthens.
The following five charts illustrate the IMF’s latest economic assessment for France and the key policy challenges.