PARIS, May 13 (Xinhua) -- France's central bank on Monday estimated a slight rise in second-quarter economic growth to 0.1 percent.
Despite a grim business outlook in the eurozone, France's industrial activity progressed in April driven by transport equipment that registered brisk deliveries, the bank said.
Last month's capacity utilization rate gained 0.6 percentage points to 75.9 percent but remained below its long-term average, and "the industrial sector would contract slightly in May," the bank added.
In its monthly economic report, the central bank said the performance of the service industry was stable as "the recovery in temporary work was offset by a contraction in hotel-catering and other service activities that have suffered from poor weather conditions."
For the short term, the bank foresaw a stable outlook.
April's business sentiment indicator in industry was at 94 points, up by one point from March while services were stable.
France, Europe's second largest economy, targeted a 0.1-percent growth this year, 1.2 percent in 2014 and 2 percent annually between 2015 and 2017, by promoting economic activities and boosting competitiveness.
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