France's central bank keeps Q4 growth forecast unchanged

Banque de France (BdF), France's central bank, upheld on Monday a previous slight growth forecast over the last quarter this year.
In its economic monthly report, the bank noted that "industrial production grew in most sectors, particularly in the agri-food, transport equipment, chemicals, and pharmaceutical industries" in November with orders and inventories were "at normal level".
The capacity utilisation was slightly improved to 76.4 percent over the period. But, the industrial sector was set to decline this month, the BdF said, based on business leaders survey.
As to services outlook, the bank expected a rise in the sector's activities in the short term after they recorded stable performance in November.
Last month, construction sector activity continued to contract, for both structural and finishing works, and expected "to diminish slightly in December," according to the report.
The business sentiment indicator in industry gained one point to 97 while those of services and construction were stable at 93 and 91.
Originally targeting an economic growth of 1 percent in 2014, France slashed its growth target for the country's economy by 0.6 percentage points as there is still no light at the end of the tunnel of the economic gloom in Europe.