PARIS, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Economy Minister Christine Lagarde said Friday France will not revise down its economic growth forecast for 2008 despite the gloomy prospects of the world economy.

    Lagarde said it is not necessary for the country to revise the forecast of between 2 percent and 2.5 percent for fiscal 2008, as the growth already has reached an average of 2.25 percent.

    Nevertheless, she admitted that the lofty target of 2.5 percent could be hard to fulfill considering the global economic slowdown, with a possible recession in the United States.

    Her view was echoed by French Prime Minister Francois Fillon Tuesday, who said it is likely for the French economy to meet the median growth target of 2.25 percent this year.

    Their optimistic views, however, were not shared by many economists.

    International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn predicted last month that it would be difficult for France to hit the target of 2.25 percent in 2008. Some economists even held that the country's economic growth could hardly exceed 1.6 percent this year.

    The French economy is expected to grow less than 2 percent in 2007.

Eurozone inflation hovers at 3.1% in December
    BRUSSELS, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- The eurozone inflation remained at 3.1 percent in December last year, pushed by higher fuel and food prices, the European Union (EU)'s statistics bureau said on Wednesday.

    The new figure, unchanged from the previous month, confirmed a previous estimate of Eurostat, which was the highest level in more than six years.  Full story

British Gas raises prices by 15%
    LONDON, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- British Gas, the biggest power provider of Britain, announced on Friday to raise gas and electricity charges by 15 percent.

    British Gas, owned by Windsor-based Centrica, said in a statement that it would make a loss this year without the price rise. Full story