The Bank of France or the central bank ,has forecast that the French economy was expected to have slipped into recession during the second half of the year . The Central Bank and already predicted a 0.1 % dip in the third quarter. The Bank of France has forecast a contraction of 0.1% in the fourth quarter. If confirmed, it would be the second consecutive quarter of negative growth, meeting the requirements of the technical definition of a recession. France had posted zero growth in the previous three quarters. The central bank’s forecast diverges from that of the government, which expects growth of 0.3% this year and 0.8 % in 2013. The European Commission, by contrast, expects the economy to grow at half that pace – at 0.2% in 2012 and 0.4% in 2013.