Business confidence rises in France while post-Brexit concerns loom

Business confidence in France during the month of July remained on the upside, even as worries over Brexit linger on amid the slashing of growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund on Wednesday. Businessmen shrugged aside the ongoing tension in the first major business survey conducted after the UK's June 23 referendum.

France’s business sentiment rose two points to 102 in July, while sentiment among manufacturing executives climbed one point to 103, data released by national statistics office Insee showed Thursday.

The increase suggests that economic fallout from the neighboring UK’s June 23 vote to exit the European Union is yet to be acknowledged by business houses in France, which is currently on track to have its most robust expansion since 2011.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund, in its latest forecasts, on Wednesday said the French economy is poised to grow at 1.5 percent this year, while trimming expectations for 2017 to 1.2 percent because of concern about the impact of Brexit.