'Yellow vest' protests slow French economy, President Macron under pressure

Pressure piling up on President Macron to placate protesters

The anti-government protests convulsing France will slow growth to close to a standstill in the final quarter, the central bank said on Monday, complicating President Emmanuel Macron’s task of finding concessions to placate the “yellow vest” movement.
 
The Bank of France on Monday forecast the euro zone’s number two economy would eke out growth of only 0.2 per cent in the quarter from the previous three months, down from 0.4 per cent in a previous estimate.
 
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire declined to give an estimate for 2018 growth but forecast the nationwide tumult would trim 0.1 per