Jeffrey Franks, the Director of the IMF Europe Office, met for an informative meeting with the President of the Finance Committee of the French National Assembly Eric Woerth, and Vice President Jean-Nöel Barrot, on Thursday, December 6 2018. Mr. Franks presented the latest IMF’s Regional Economic Outlook for Europe and proposals for reforms of the euro area architecture.

Participants agreed that risks to the baseline are intensifying, and expressed interest in the Fund’s estimates of the US/China escalating trade tensions and the consequences of Brexit. The possible drivers of the global productivity slowdown were discussed, especially with regard to the Italian worrying productivity trends. There was also interest in the Fund’s assessment of France’s wage levels, including the minimum wage, and the indebtedness of non-financial corporations.