According to the minister, the adjustment is in tune with President Emmanuel Macron’s decision, announced in a speech on Monday night, to extend the general quarantine until May 11, so that measure will be in force for eight weeks.
The rectification results from 15 additional days of confinement, he told BFMTV, as the previous estimate about the economic impact of the health crisis was based on six weeks of preventive isolation and its end in late April. A few days ago, Le Maire said that France would face an unprecedented recession since 1945.
He added that Macron’s decision was wise, «but it will evidently have a stronger impact on the GDP», with new data that will be submitted to the Council of Ministers in the next few hours, in order to rectify the State budget for 2020.
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