A 1-billion-euro cruise liner with five swimming pools, ten restaurants and 21 bars is being credited with sending the French economy minister on holiday in a good mood, reports The Times.
Bruno Le Maire may not be boarding the MSC Euribia for its maiden voyage this month but he is indebted to the ship for helping to ensure a 2.6 per cent increase in French exports in the second quarter, compared with the previous three months.
The 184,011-tonne liner, which was built in Saint-Nazaire on the Atlantic coast, was delivered to the Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the Swiss cruise line, in June, which meant that it counted in statistics for the second quarter.
Before leaving Paris for his summer break in southwestern France, Le Maire said the sudden turnaround, after a 0.8 per cent drop in the first quarter, was behind the “remarkable performance” of the French economy, which registered growth of 0.5 per cent, according to the National Institute of Statistic and Economic Studies.
Le Maire, said to have been a presidential hopeful in 2017, was in need of positive news after being widely criticised for publishing an erotic novel amid strikes and protests against a rise the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 this spring.