OECD Economic Surveys.

Table of contents
 Basic statistics of France, 2011
 Executive summary
 Main findings
 Key recommendations
 Assessment and recommendations
 In the short term growth is set to remain weak and unemployment to rise further
 Figure 1. Weak trend per capita GDP growth but stable income inequality in France
 Figure 2. France is in an intermediate situation in terms of the impact of the crisis
 Figure 3. Unemployment is rising
 Table 1. Recent macroeconomic developments and projections
 Figure 4. The real estate sector is weaker, but few loans are non{u00AD}performing. Figure 5. Private debt has grown sharply from a low levelFrench banks have been resilient, but they suffer from some vulnerabilities
 Table 2. Bank claims on selected countries of the EU periphery
 Figure 6. The capitalisation of French banks has risen, and pressures have diminished
 Figure 7. Monetary and financial institutions in France have large balance sheets
 Box 1. Recommendations to improve the financial system
 Reducing the weight of public spending must be vigorously pursued
 Figure 8. Public deficit and debt, 1990{u00AD}2014. Figure 9. General government expenditure as a percentage of GDP in France and other OECD countriesTable 3. Estimated short{u00AD}term fiscal multipliers for France
 Figure 10. Public and private pension spending
 Figure 11. The efficiency of healthcare expenditure can be improved in France
 The strengthening of the budgetary framework is welcome
 Box 2. Recommendations for the management of public finances
 Improving the equity and efficiency of the tax and transfer system
 Income inequality has been relatively low and broadly stable over time due to significant redistribution. Simplifying the tax system and ensuring more transparency would improve economic performanceFigure 12. The degree of redistribution is high in France
 Figure 13. Tax administration costs, 2009
 Marginal tax rates on labour are high
 Figure 14. The labour tax wedge is high in France, 2011
 Incentives to work are weak, especially for older workers and women
 Box 3. The government\'s poverty reduction package
 The taxation of capital should be made more neutral
 Figure 15. Top effective marginal tax rates on real returns on different asset classes, 2011. Reduced VAT rates are an expensive form of redistributionProgress has been made in internalising local pollution, but implicit carbon prices vary a lot across energy sources
 The transfer system should be radically simplified
 Box 4. Recommendations to improve the efficiency and equity of tax and transfer policies
 France\'s poor export performance reflects generalised weakness on the supply side
 Figure 16. Trade balance and business profits
 Boosting competition in product markets
 Regulated professions, retail trade, transportation
 Figure 17. Regulation is still heavy.