Reuters reports that French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Monday that French consumption has almost returned to normal levels and that forced household savings during the coronavirus lockdown period could boost consumption later on in the year.

"Our recovery plan...is working. A few weeks ago consumption in France was at minus 30%, today we are just minus 5%, we have almost returned to normal," Le Maire said on RTL radio.

Le Maire also said that he estimates that households will have saved about 100 billion euros by year-end due to the coronavirus crisis. "What I wish for is that they will spend this 100 billion," he said.