'Moment Of Truth' For Macron As Protests Hit French Economy

Rukhshan Mir (@rukhshanmir) Published December 10, 2018 | 06:27 PM

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to offer fresh concessions Monday to try to end the "yellow vest" protests that have rocked the country and taken a heavy toll on the economy.

Paris, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Dec, 2018 ) :French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to offer fresh concessions Monday to try to end the "yellow vest" protests that have rocked the country and taken a heavy toll on the economy.

Macron will address the nation at 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) after three weeks of anti-government demonstrations which again turned violent Saturday in Paris and other cities.

The stakes are high for the 40-year-old centrist, who has not spoken publicly about the unrest in over a week, leaving it to his government to try tamp down the anger -- much of it aimed at the president himself.

Macron is facing a "moment of truth," the Parisien newspaper said in its leading headline Monday, warning that if he fails to appease the anger, "France will enter a dangerous period of political instability." On the economic front, the protesters' nationwide campaign of road blockades, coupled with the looting and vandalism seen during weekend protests in Paris and other cities, has dealt a heavy blow to the retail and hospitality sector.

France's central bank on Monday halved its fourth-quarter growth forecast to just 0.2 percent from 0.4 percent -- far below the 0.8 percent growth needed to meet the government's full-year target of 1.7 percent.

"We can't recover this," Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on RTL radio Monday. "That's the reality, for businesses, shop owners whose stores were damaged, vandalised or looted on Saturday."Le Maire added that he was in favour of accelerating tax cuts in response to the protests -- one of the demands voiced during the past month.

Government officials say Macron will announce "immediate and concrete measures" to respond to the grievances, although he is not expected to rescind his partial repeal of a "wealth tax" on high earners, a particular source of protesters' ire.