France has cut its 2026 economic growth forecast to 0.7 percent from 0.9 percent, the country's Economy and Finance Minister Roland Lescure said on Tuesday at a meeting of the Public Finance Alert Committee.
It was the government's second downward revision to the outlook this year. In mid-April, the government lowered the forecast to 0.9 percent from 1.0 percent, citing the impact of tensions in the Middle East.
The new forecast is in line with the estimates of France's national statistics agency Insee, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The Bank of France cut its own 2026 growth forecast to 0.5 percent in June.
The economy ministry said the revision reflected weaker-than-expected first-quarter performance, the expected impact of the Middle East conflict on second-quarter activity, and a cautious view about the second half of the year.
While lower inflation and a recovery in household consumption in June were encouraging, they were not enough to keep the previous 0.9 percent full-year growth forecast within reach, the ministry said.
Lescure said the government would continue to support economic activity and growth.
Official data showed French GDP contracted 0.1 percent quarter on quarter in the first quarter, while annual inflation eased to 1.8 percent in June from 2.4 percent in May.
French gov't cuts 2026 economic growth forecast to 0.7 percent
The head of leading global mining and metals group Rio Tinto says the firm is looking to embrace the rapid technological changes taking place across the industry by refining its strategic approach and stepping up investments in key areas such as artificial intelligence.
Simon Trott, Rio Tinto's CEO, was speaking in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) in Beijing, where he said the company must look to identify key investment priorities that offer a competitive advantage and deliver the greatest business impact.
"It comes down to prioritization, because if you try and do everything, you get nothing done. And so you've got to focus on the ones where you think you've got real competitive advantage, or that you can translate into competitive advantage, but also one that's going to move the needle for your business," he said.
Trott explained that as part of Rio Tinto's strategy reset, the company is concentrating on areas where it can make a material difference.
He said the firm is focusing its digital efforts on a select number of data-rich projects rather than spreading its resources too thin.
"So on digital, for example, rather than doing many different projects, [we are] choosing one or two projects where we really have significant amounts of data in that space, for example, in geotech or some of our all-body knowledge work. We've got significant amounts of data. We've got tools now that actually can access that data in a different way and [we're] really putting resources to try and make progress in that area, rather than spreading it too broadly," he said.
Multinational mining company prioritizing digitalization, AI to gain competitive edge
