PARIS (Reuters) – French government measures to prop up the economy through the coronavirus crisis have cost 450 billion euros ($490 billion), the equivalent of 20% of GDP, the finance minister said on Monday.
Since mid March, the government has mobilised a package of measures including state-subsidised furloughs, state-guaranteed loans, tax deferrals and handouts to small firms.
“If we take everything that has been done with the budget and in support of businesses’ cashflows, it’s 450 billion euros, 20% of the nation’s wealth on the table,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on BFM TV.
He added that President Emmanuel Macron would announce “strong measures” in support of car-makers, the latest industry to get a sector specific plan to help it back on its feet.
(Reporting by Leigh Thomas and Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Toby Chopra)
