This archive report was first published on 30 August 2021.
On August 30, 2021, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced that the government had extended 240 billion euros ($283 billion) in financial aid to businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic since March 2020.
The aid, mainly in the form of state-guaranteed loans, was extended to businesses that were hammered by the pandemic, with President Emmanuel Macron vowing to protect French companies and their employees “whatever the cost”.
“The bill for ‘whatever the cost’ stands at 80 billion euros in subsidies, and 160 billion euros in loans,” Le Maire told France Inter radio.
The government expects economic growth to hit six percent this year after France and other countries plunged into recession last year.
France’s recovery “is going to continue,” Le Maire said, in large part thanks to higher consumer spending that is helping the economy operate “at 99 percent of its capacities”.
