PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The French economy is in a better position than the U.K.'s, French Finance Minister Francois Baroin told French radio station Europe 1 on Friday. The minister also qualified the economic situation in the U.K. as 'worrying.'
He said one prefers to be French than British on the economy front at the moment.
His comments come a day after the Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer said the rating agencies should downgrade the ratings of the U.K. first, which has bigger deficits, more debt, higher inflation and less growth than France.
The statistical office Insee said yesterday that it expects the French economy to slip into a mild recession in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of next year.
The economy is forecast to contract 0.2 percent in the fourth quarter and 0.1 percent in the next quarter.
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