France will narrowly miss entering a recession in the first quarter thanks to meagre growth, according the country's central bank.

The Bank of France reported Friday that growth of 0.1% is expected in the first three months of 2013, compared to the contraction of 0.3% registered in the final quarter of last year. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.

The French monetary authority noted that the business confidence indicator for industry rose to 96 in February from January's 95 reading, but sentiment in the services sector fell from 90 to 88.

Although the Eurozone's second-largest economy after Germany, France is only expected to grow by a meager 0.1% this year, according to forecasts from the European Commission.

JM

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