AlHijjah 24, 1433, Nov 9, 2012, SPA -- The French economy was expected to have slipped into recession during the second half of the year, dpa quoted the country's central bank as saying Friday. The Bank of France has forecast a contraction of 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter. If confirmed, it would be the second consecutive quarter of negative growth, meeting the requirements of the technical definition of a recession. The bank has already predicted a 0.1-per-cent dip in the third quarter. France had posted zero growth in the previous three quarters. The central bank's forecast diverges from that of the government, which expects growth of 0.3 per cent this year and 0.8 per cent in 2013. The European Commission, by contrast, expects the economy to grow at half that pace - at 0.2 per cent in 2012 and 0.4 per cent in 2013.
