‘Yellow vest’ protesters knock wind out of French business, economy
PARIS, (Reuters) - Three weeks of “yellow vest” protests have hit the French economy hard, with trade in shops, hotels and restaurants falling significantly, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said yesterday.
Speaking after a meeting with industry groups and business federations affected by the protest movement, Le Maire said sector revenues had been hit by between 15 and 50 percent.
While not providing a precise breakdown, Le Maire said small retailers had seen a fall in revenue of between 20 and 40 percent, and the hotel industry was seeing reservations down 15 to 25 percent.
Restaurants, depending on their location, had seen takings collapse by between 20 and 50 percent.
“The impact is severe and
ongoing,” Le Maire said, emphasising it was nationwide, although Paris, after riots and looting in some of its most upmarket districts on Saturday afternoon and evening, was particularly affected.
The movement began on Nov. 17 as a social-media-planned protest against fuel-tax rises, but has since morphed into an anti-Macron uprising.
The ministry was not able to say what sort of impact the unrest would have on gross domestic product, but having hoped for a pick-up in the fourth quarter on the back of rising consumer spending, that now appears less likely.
Holiday season shopping has started poorly, according to industry group Federation du Commerce et de la Distribution, which expects a slump in hirings and a transfer of shopping to e-commerce, mainly on Amazon, a spokeswoman said.
Amazon was not immediately available to comment but CDiscount, the e-commerce arm of retailer Casino, attributed the record number of visits to its websites partly to “demonstrations or blockades organised outside some shops”.
Market data aggregator Nielsen said yesterday retail sales had contracted during three days of nationwide protest since Nov. 17, and had struggled to recover in between. It said supermarket sales had plunged 35 percent on day one on Nov. 17 and 18 percent on day two, Nov. 24.
Last week, sales were down six to 13 percent Monday through Wednesday, picked up slightly on Thursday and Friday, but then fell eight percent again on the third day of nationwide protests on Saturday, it said.