France's economy doesn't grow in first quarter of year, putting more pressure on new president

PARIS ? �France's economy did not grow in the first quarter of the year, raising concerns that the country could be headed toward a recession.

The national statistics agency Insee said Tuesday that GDP was stagnant from January to March. It also revised down growth in the fourth quarter of last year from 0.2 percent to 0.1 percent. Some analysts expect GDP to start contracting next quarter.

The news came on the same day that President-elect Francois Hollande takes office, vowing to restore France's growth by investing in infrastructure and small businesses. But he has also promised to rein in the deficit ? a task made harder by stagnating growth.

Hollande built his program around an expectation of 0.5 percent GDP growth for the year. That's in line with the EU's forecast.

Source: http://feeds.foxnews.com/~r/foxnews/world/~3/d1utx6TA8bI/

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