French central bank expects end of recession

Bank of France has said it expects the eurozone's second biggest economy to return to growth in the second quarter, following six previous months of recession. But it added growth would be marginal.

The French economy looked set to expand by 0.1 percent in the second quarter, the country's central bank said in a repor.

The Banque de France admitted the prospects for growth and more employment remained rather dim this year, but pointed to a pick-up in April.

The Q2 outlook from the central bank corresponded with that of the national statistics institute, INSEE, which had also penciled in marginal growth for the period in question after two quarters with a 0.2-percent contraction.

The Bank of France noted it based its growth estimate on confidence in industry and the services sector, with recent surveys showing that business leaders expected activity to firm by June at the latest.