The French economy stagnated in the first quarter of 2014, announcing a GDP growth of 0 per cent, dpa quoted national statistics agency INSEE as saying Thursday The result fell short of a government forecast of 0.1-per-cent growth, but Finance Minister Michel Sapin stuck by the government's full-year target of 1 per cent GDP growth. "We are talking about figures that are perfectly reasonable objectives," he said. The first quarter saw a marked drop in consumer spending and business investment and rise in imports. INSEE meanwhile revised upwards the 2013 growth figure, from 0.3 per cent to 0.4 per cent.
