PARIS: France’s trade deficit widened slightly to 4.7 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in June from a revised 4.4 billion euros in May, data showed on Tuesday. Last month, the INSEE statistics agency said the economy grew 0.5 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months as a surge in exports helped offset a drawdown in company inventories and slower business investment.
INSEE has said it expects France to have its strongest economic growth this year since 2011 as foreign trade proves less of a drag and the unemployment rate falls. Also on Tuesday, data showed the budget deficit narrowed to 62.3 billion euros as of the end of June from 66.4 billion at the end of May. Last year’s gap up to June was 61.8 billion.
